Players union says NFL wants to suspend players arrested for DUI
The NFL wants to be able to suspend players as soon as they're arrested for DUI, without waiting for convictions, NFLPA executives told the Associated Press on Friday.
According to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the NFLPA has "no plans" to agree to the proposed change.
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The NFL's proposed change comes as it negotiates a new drug agreement. It was reported yesterday that the league and the player's association were close to a new agreement that included testing for HGH and that raised the threshold for testing positive for marijuana and possibly other recreational drugs.
As it stands now, the NFL can't suspend players until they're convicted of DUI.
In a similar move, the league announced last week it was adopting more stringent penalties for domestic violence offenders, including a six-game suspension for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second offense. That came in response to backlash against the two-game suspension for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, a penalty that critics said was too light.
As of early Friday evening, the league and the NFLPA had not agreed on a new drug policy. The NFLPA has said it wants offenders such as Wes Welker and Josh Gordon to be subject to punishment under the new policy if it is implemented in the current league year.
- Ben Estes
