Why no uproar for Shawn Merriman's suspension?

[Syringer]

There are countless amounts of baseball players who are scrutinized for suspicion of steroid use, even though no tests have ever confirmed their usage..but here you have a guy who's very well known, who has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, yet there's not so much as a whisper about it.

Why is it that no one cares that this guy is not only blatantly cheating but got CAUGHT.. in a sport where size, strength, and ability to recover are MUCH more important than a sport where it's mostly hand-eye coordination..in a sport where a physical advantage makes all the difference in the world, a sport where the guy seemingly does have superhuman abilities?

Whadupwidat?

 

[KLin]

2006 Suspension

On October 22nd, 2006, reports were made public by ESPN that Merriman would face a 4 game suspension for violating the NFL's Steroid policy.[2] ESPN's Chris Mortensen cited a source that claimed the suspension was "definitely for steroid use and not a 'supplement-type' suspension.'" Mortenson's report later came under scrutiny from Merriman's attorney, David Cornwell, who called the report "irresponsible and erroneous." Under NFL league policy, no player's suspension proceedings are to be announced before the suspension takes place. Subsequently Cornwell stated that he believes the substance his client tested positive for was the anabolic steroid nandrolone, an ingredient in a nutritional supplement Merriman took regularly.[1] Days later, Merriman held a press conference announced he was dropping his appeal, and would sit out four games, admitting "Yes, I did something unknowingly, but at the same time I did something that was against the policy...". While refusing to identify the supplement that led to the positive test, he said it was an over-the-counter supplement, and that while he took it for 1 1/2 years, he never had it checked by the team's training staff. "We're not allowed to say what product yet because there's a high, high possibility that we'll be going after the manufacturer." he said. In spite of his 4 game suspension, Merriman still made ESPN's mid-season All-Pro team in the 2006 season and pledges to remain diligent. [3] Merriman was, at the time, the latest NFL player involved in controversy surrounding the use of anabolic steroids by professional football players and more generally, professional athletes, including fellow NFL Defensive Rookie of The Year, Julius Peppers For more on this subject, see anabolic steroid use and abuse in sports.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawne_Merriman

 

[alexjohnson16]

Because America :heart:'s the NFL more than they :heart: the MLB nowadays.

 

[Syringer]

Right, like he's going to admit "Oh yeah, I got some guys I meet up with once a week who drop the stuff at my house. Is supposed to make me faster, stronger, but damit, I guess they caught me this time. Looks like I'll be switching to HGH which they don't test".

 

[imported_Mike]

He tested positive back in August, so while his defensive rookie of the year title may be in question, but that fact that he is top 10 in sacks while still missing 4 games has nothing to do with it.

Maybe I am biased, but I believe that it was not intentional and that it was not steroids.

 

[tm37]

The main reason is that he came out and explained it.

He is claiming tainted supliment and really there is no reason to doubt him at this point. I am waiting to hear if he will eventually sue the maker of the suppliment.

THis is different than what Palimero got dinged for. nandrolone is ingestible while what palmero got caught with was injected. THis is a fine line that we walk and should Merriman stay clean and continue to be the best LB in the league then we hae no reason to doubt him.

Baseball did not test and when people look at the awesome numbers that bonds and mcgwire put up they assume that there was some illegal activity going on and also many believe there was a conspiracy that goes all the way to Selig looking the other way. I for one don't know if mcgwire used, and for that reason will give him the benifit of the doubt. Bonds claims he did not however there is evedance that perhaps he did knowingly use performance enhancing drugs. So for that reason I am am not so sure, however again no proof. Giambi admitted he used, Sheffield admitted use. so they are (were) tainted.

ALso there has yet to be a conseco book in the NFL.

 

[Syringer]

You say there's no reason to doubt him, but I say there's no reason to believe him. Even if it was a tainted supplement, there's no reason, being a professional athlete who knows what happens in testing, that he should've been taking it.

Hall of fame voters are making an example of McGwire for what he said on Capitol Hill, and I believe that NFL players need to be made examples of too, showing that there's zero tolerance for substance abuse. Ricky Williams has been "banned" from the league for using weed, something that doesn't affect his on field play yet he is the one associated with being a druggie. The case on steroids should be much more serious imo.

 

[dennilfloss]

As RastaWorf once said: "I am not a Merrimon!"

 

[yowolabi]

Originally posted by: Mike
He tested positive back in August, so while his defensive rookie of the year title may be in question, but that fact that he is top 10 in sacks while still missing 4 games has nothing to do with it.

Maybe I am biased, but I believe that it was not intentional and that it was not steroids.

It was clearly steroids, that's not even up for debate. The test was to detect steroids, he came up positive on both samples.

And what do you mean it has nothing to do with his current performance? If he was taking steroids up until August, then the steroids would still be in his system for months after, and all the muscle gains he made would still be with him for even longer if he keeps working out.


The real reason that this hasn't been a big deal is that fans assume that everyone in the nfl is taking steroids, so no one really believes that the people caught have that much of an advantage.

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: yowolabi

Originally posted by: Mike
He tested positive back in August, so while his defensive rookie of the year title may be in question, but that fact that he is top 10 in sacks while still missing 4 games has nothing to do with it.

Maybe I am biased, but I believe that it was not intentional and that it was not steroids.

It was clearly steroids, that's not even up for debate. The test was to detect steroids, he came up positive on both samples.

And what do you mean it has nothing to do with his current performance? If he was taking steroids up until August, then the steroids would still be in his system for months after, and all the muscle gains he made would still be with him for even longer if he keeps working out.


The real reason that this hasn't been a big deal is that fans assume that everyone in the nfl is taking steroids, so no one really believes that the people caught have that much of an advantage.

I don't know if I buy that. I think it's more of the opposite..where people feel stricting policies are so strict people assume that it's rare.

Baseball has assumption that everyone uses it and that is the reason the game feels so tainted in the eyes of many fans.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Syringer
You say there's no reason to doubt him, but I say there's no reason to believe him. Even if it was a tainted supplement, there's no reason, being a professional athlete who knows what happens in testing, that he should've been taking it.

Hall of fame voters are making an example of McGwire for what he said on Capitol Hill, and I believe that NFL players need to be made examples of too, showing that there's zero tolerance for substance abuse. Ricky Williams has been "banned" from the league for using weed, something that doesn't affect his on field play yet he is the one associated with being a druggie. The case on steroids should be much more serious imo.

No Ricky Williams got banned for repeatedly breaking the NFL Substance abuse policy.

See unlike Baseball, the NFL actually drug tests its players, and suspends them when they are caught. Drug testing in Baseball is fairly recent, and its extremely random, and so far ineffective, other than catching mostly triple A ball players.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: Syringer
You say there's no reason to doubt him, but I say there's no reason to believe him. Even if it was a tainted supplement, there's no reason, being a professional athlete who knows what happens in testing, that he should've been taking it.

Hall of fame voters are making an example of McGwire for what he said on Capitol Hill, and I believe that NFL players need to be made examples of too, showing that there's zero tolerance for substance abuse. Ricky Williams has been "banned" from the league for using weed, something that doesn't affect his on field play yet he is the one associated with being a druggie. The case on steroids should be much more serious imo.

BAH... all professional football players take suppliements. Lifting aids, weight gainers, protein shakes... but they are all supposed to be steriod free.
the NFL maintains a list of banned substances.... while it is the athletes responsibility to make sure one of those substances isnt in one of his suppliments...
If it would not be listed on the bottle as an ingredient then it is the providers fault, not the athlete.

The solution to this is clear... the NFL should have a list of approved suppliements and those should be the only ones permitted. Any vendor caught with bad suppliment will be disqualified.