NFL, NFLPA agree to implement new drug policy

On Wednesday morning, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to a new drug policy that will include testing for Human Growth Hormone for the first time. Ian Rapoport of the

Doug Farrar | Sep 16, 2014

NFL, NFLPA agree to implement new drug policy /

On Wednesday morning, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to a new drug policy that will include testing for Human Growth Hormone for the first time. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network was first with the report.

ESPN's Ed Werder reported Tuesday night that the league started to inform players who have satisfied the terms of their current suspensions under the former policy that they should be reinstated by Sunday. Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick and Denver Broncos receiver Wes Welker, who were serving four-game suspensions for positive amphetamine tests, will have their suspensions cut in half.

In addition, Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon, currently serving a season-long suspension for multiple violations of the league's drug and alcohol policies, will have his suspension reduced to 10 games (he's already served two).

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The primary point in the new drug policy is the addition of testing for HGH, which the NFLPA has been resisting since the current collective bargaining agreement was ratified in 2011. The main opposition the Players Association had lodged was that the league wasn't putting forth consistent testing guidelines and baselines, and that there was no independent arbiter to hear appeals.

HGH testing should begin by the end of the month, and according to reports, the public will not be made aware of the names of players who test positive.

Now, the NFLPA and NFL will jointly appoint and pay three to five arbitrators. The NFLPA also rejected a proposal from the league that any player charged but not convicted for driving while impaired would immediately be suspended. Instead, any player convicted or pleading guilty to driving while impaired will receive a two-game suspension.

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Scandrick and Welker will have their suspensions reduced because under the new policy, first-time positive tests for amphetamines in the offseason will no longer result in a suspension, while in-season positive tests will. Also, the threshold for a positive marijuana test will be raised from 15 to 35 nanograms per millimeter. Some players had complained that under the previous baseline, any contact with marijuana could trip a positive test.

Published Sep 16, 2014

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.