The National Football League has come to terms on a new drug policy. The focus of the coverage of that agreement, and rightfully so, is the potential reinstatement of suspended players such as Wes Welker and Josh Gordon.
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Not to be lost in the new policy, however, is what it might mean in the not-so-distant future in terms of the NFL and their testing for human growth hormones, or HGH.
In his article outlining some of the key features of the new drug agreement, Tom Pelissero of USA Today points out that HGH testing could be coming soon for the NFL:
"The term sheet says the league and union “aim to commence hGH testing within 14 days of the date of agreement on this Policy,” which could be by the end of the month, depending how quickly things get finalized.There will be no population study to determine the appropriate “decision limit” for NFL players, as the union had pushed for and the league at one point agreed. (Instead, players have the right to challenge the science of the isoforms test.) So, the league can go straight into full-blown testing – and discipline."
That is a far cry from the way that PED issues have been handled in the past for the NFL, at least compared to other professional sports such as Major League Baseball.
For now the focus is on the impact of this policy for players currently suspended, but that focus could shift quickly to HGH testing in the coming months.
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