Over the past few seasons you may have noticed a trend whenever an NFL player is suspended for four games. They immediately claim they failed a performance-enhancing drug test for Adderall, the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication.
Those players may not be taking Adderall, though, because the NFL doesn’t disclose the specifics of positive tests. However, the NFL is looking to change that according to Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe.
The NFL’s vice president of law and labor policy, Adolpho A. Birch III, said the league wants to disclose the specifics of PED suspensions like Major League Baseball. Now, suspensions are only announced as a violation of the league’s PED policy.
Just last season, three Patriots players claimed they failed tests because of Adderall — Aqib Talib while he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Bolden. The excuse is looked at as a way to claim ignorance or stupidity rather than guilt or cheating.
