NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith wants HGH program by start of season

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith says he wants HGH testing for players by September. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith says he hopes that the league has human growth hormone testing for players by the beginning of the season. The NFL season starts on Wednesday, September 5.

"I hope so, because our players want a clean game," Smith told Profootballtalk.com, when asked if an HGH program will be in place by the start of the season. "The players of the National Football League believe that we should be doing everything to make sure that the game is fair and clean."

The latest collective bargaining agreement had language in it where both sides agreed to the testing, but the players still remain reluctant to pursue it because they question the reliability of a blood-based test and have not approved any process to conduct a program.

Others in the NFL are not so sure if the program will be in place by September.