Richard Sherman has had no trouble backing up his trash talk on the field. But he may want to be careful about speaking up about other areas that he can’t prove as easily.
Sherman said this week that the use of the ADHD medication Adderall is much more widespread in the NFL than the league acknowledges, saying that “about half the league takes it.” While he emphasized that he has not used the drug, he says the league needs to make changes.
The NFL has now fired back.
“The comments are ill-informed and inaccurate,” said Greg Aiello, the league spokesman, according to the New York Daily News. “Adderall is easily detected under current testing and will result in a suspension absent an approved therapeutic use exemption. If his statements were true, we would be seeing many positive tests and suspensions.
“More importantly, his comments are irresponsible. They ignore the serious medical risks and documented public health crisis associated with the improper use of Adderall and similar drugs.”
The issue that neither Sherman nor Aiello addressed is that most players reportedly using Adderall may not even be using it — the drug is said to commonly be employed as a scapegoat when players test positive for other performance-enhancing drugs, since the NFL does not release which drug players tested positive for.
Sherman further backed down from his comments Thursday, saying he was misquoted when he said “half the league” used Adderall and insisting again that he has not used it.
