NFL agrees to arbitration for all PED & HGH testing

Feb 1, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during a press conference in preparation for Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens at the New Orleans Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /

Performance enhancing drugs have cast a dark cloud over Major League Baseball that the NFL and other professional sports leagues hope they never have to endure, and instead of sitting on their hands and letting it come (like baseball did), they’re being proactive and working on how they’ll better test for it and hand out severe punishments for it, like the six-game suspension handed down to All-Pro linebacker Von Miller.

The latest news regarding PEDs comes from PFT’s Mike Florio, who reports the NFL has agreed to use third-party arbitration for both HGH testing and PED testing:

"Both the NFL and the NFLPA have informed PFT that a deal on HGH testing would include arbitration for positive HGH results and other positive test results for performance-enhancing drugs. The lone sticking point remains the NFL’s desire to keep the appeal rights for violations arising from something other than a positive test in the hands of the Commissioner.The negotiations, occurring primarily in connection with HGH testing, encompass the entire PED policy because HGH is considered to be a performance-enhancing substance."

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