The NFL will test for human growth hormone

The National Football League will begin testing for human growth hormone on Monday, according to an announcement on the NFL homepage, preceded by a letter, Eric Winston, the NFLPA players union president, wrote to the players. Outlining the agreement on the new drug policy the NFL and the NFLPA announced on September 19, Wilson said: “It is important that you are aware of and understand the important gains that were achieved for players in the new policies and how they affect you. For the first time in the history of the NFL, our new collectively bargained policies usher in a neutral arbitration process for appeals of positive drug tests. Until these policies were negotiated, the Commissioner or his designee (an NFL employee) had jurisdiction over all appeals. Your Executive Committee and Player Representatives fought extremely hard to achieve these gains to ensure your fair due process rights.”

“We negotiated to ensure that the methodology of testing be conducted in the most professional
and safest manner for players. Importantly, after three years of negotiating, players won the right to
challenge any aspect of the science behind the HGH isoforms test in an appeal of a positive test,” Wilson continued. Our goals during the long and hard process of collective bargaining were fairness,
transparency, and safety. We are proud to say that as a result of our new agreements, the game is
cleaner, but also that players’ rights have been significantly advanced.”

Each week of the season, 5 players on 8 teams will be tested. No testing will occur on game
days. „We negotiated to ensure that the methodology of testing be conducted in the most professional
and safest manner for players. Importantly, after three years of negotiating, players won the right to
challenge any aspect of the science behind the HGH isoforms test in an appeal of a positive test,” the
NFLPA president emphasized.

This article was republished with permission from the editor and publisher of the Sport Intern, Karl-Heinz Huba.