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POSTED 11:39 a.m. EST, February 4, 2007
CHEATERS WON'T PROSPER
Well, it looks like the NFL is going to adopt the "Shawne Merriman" rule.
Per ESPN's Chris Mortensen, any players who test positive for performance-enhancing substances will be prevented from appearing in the Pro Bowl in the same season in which the positive test occurs.
A reader tells us that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made a similar disclosure during a Sunday appearance on Face the Nation.
The rule is expected to be implemented in the 2007 season.
We think it's a great idea, as anyone who has been coming to this site already knows.
The issue came to a head this year because Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman made the Pro Bowl despite missing four games after being suspended for violation of the policy against steroids and related substances. Though some writers have explained that this is the same kind of off-field stuff that isn't supposed to be considered when voting on who'll make the Hall of Fame, the reality is that this is one area in which what is done off of the field (i.e., the consumption of steroids) has a direct effect on what happens between the lines.
And make no mistake about it. Folks who use steroids aren't looking for a quick Popeye-style boost of energy. The idea is to speed recovery from workouts so that more workouts may occur, allowing the body to grow faster than it normally would. So if a guy has been using steroids, he'll be bigger than he fairly should be. Even if the 'roids are out of the player's system.
Coincidentally (or not), we're hearing chatter that Merriman is noticeably smaller than he was during the season. We'll all get a look at him next weekend in Hawaii (and this might prompt us to actually watch the Pro Bowl).
In all fairness to Merriman, he claims that he did not intentionally consume a banned substance, and that it was in a supposedly "clean" supplement he was taking. But Merriman to date has refused to identify the supplement, and he has admitted that he no longer has the package that supposedly contained the spiked material.
CHEATERS WON'T PROSPER
Well, it looks like the NFL is going to adopt the "Shawne Merriman" rule.
Per ESPN's Chris Mortensen, any players who test positive for performance-enhancing substances will be prevented from appearing in the Pro Bowl in the same season in which the positive test occurs.
A reader tells us that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made a similar disclosure during a Sunday appearance on Face the Nation.
The rule is expected to be implemented in the 2007 season.
We think it's a great idea, as anyone who has been coming to this site already knows.
The issue came to a head this year because Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman made the Pro Bowl despite missing four games after being suspended for violation of the policy against steroids and related substances. Though some writers have explained that this is the same kind of off-field stuff that isn't supposed to be considered when voting on who'll make the Hall of Fame, the reality is that this is one area in which what is done off of the field (i.e., the consumption of steroids) has a direct effect on what happens between the lines.
And make no mistake about it. Folks who use steroids aren't looking for a quick Popeye-style boost of energy. The idea is to speed recovery from workouts so that more workouts may occur, allowing the body to grow faster than it normally would. So if a guy has been using steroids, he'll be bigger than he fairly should be. Even if the 'roids are out of the player's system.
Coincidentally (or not), we're hearing chatter that Merriman is noticeably smaller than he was during the season. We'll all get a look at him next weekend in Hawaii (and this might prompt us to actually watch the Pro Bowl).
In all fairness to Merriman, he claims that he did not intentionally consume a banned substance, and that it was in a supposedly "clean" supplement he was taking. But Merriman to date has refused to identify the supplement, and he has admitted that he no longer has the package that supposedly contained the spiked material.
