The NFL get another free pass
-
- October
- 26
News item: Three members of the New Orleans Saints – running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant – are among a number of NFL players confirmed to have tested positive under the NFL’s steroid policy. League sources on Saturday said that the number of pending cases on the positive tests in violation of the steroids policy is eight.
On the main page of ESPN.com, this story received less play than the World Series, two college football games, the Breeders Cup and the travails of Isiah Thomas. Most newspapers will treat it about the same way. No big deal.
Now imagine if eight baseball players had tested positive.
It would be the main story everywhere. The hang-wringing columnists who love to inflict their morality on us would rush to their laptops to condemn Bud Selig and Donald Fehr. You would get the usual toothless demands for an investigation from publicity-hungry Congressmen and assorted speculation about who else was involved. Jeff Novitzky would swing into action, eager to mound another head on his wall.
But because football is held to a lesser standard than baseball, nobody much cares that those players tested positive. Or that the NFL’s testing system somehow allows for a lengthy delay between a positive test and suspension. There will be more written about what fantasy league moves should be made if McAllister gets suspended.
To be sure, baseball had a serious problem and still does in the Dominican Republic. I suspect a large percentage of players used steroids or amphetamines – or both – up until the last few seasons. The game is changing because of it as teams try and rid themselves of aging players who are used to receiving a pharmaceutical boost.
But why does the NFL get a free pass? Next time there’s talk of a “scandal” in baseball, think about that.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 at 5:12 am by Peter Abraham.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Peter Abraham
I think its because baseball is mostly an individual sport. While there are baseball teams, one person goes into the batters box and faces one pitcher.
Statistics are much more important in baseball, as its the basis of how good a player is. There is a lot more baseball stat heads than there is football stat heads. Football stats aren’t really as important.
Remember when Strahan was given the sack record by Favre? If that had happened in baseball for a homerun, it would have been a huge story.
Football players are largely a faceless group. You tend to root for the uniform, not so much individual players. They are also destroying their bodies every time they step on the field, so adding a few drugs to the system isn’t perceived the same way.
I think if steroid use was thought to be rampant by QBs and WRs, it would be a bigger deal. But cartoon size DL, OL, and linebackers, who nobody ever sees anyway? Nobody cares.
Funny how the media works…pretty scary when you really think about it.
Oh and Football won’t get a congressional hearing after the way those fools looked, when they took on Baseball…I mean they have something like a 10% approval rating throughout the country…well I guess it couldn’t get any worse, could it?
the Hypocrisy in the media is readily apparent – this story will not get certain columnists the celebrity that a baseball story would so why bother
It is strange isn’t it.
If this happened to say a few members of the Yankees or Red Sox, can you imagine ESPN and various other mediots? It would be non-stop coverage and a rush to condemn loud and clear.
This happens in the NFL, it’s a story for about 4 minutes and then okay, back to the game. Who should I start this week in FF..
As I said, very strange.
It’s one big gamble in looking for the “edge” and all in pursuit of that one big contract that supposedly puts a player on Easy Street during and after the playing career.
Consequences are brushed aside as a second nature.
There is a double standard, but it can be rationalized. Many fans played baseball and can relate to the game and grew up treasuring the records. Football is a faceless gladiator sport built on ruthless aggression and violence.
Baseball fans looked the other way to the rampant cheating, along with the owners and writers, until the records got tarnished by unpopular faces.Then the pendulum swung the other way.
It doesn’t help baseball that the commissioner is constantly pretending to care about the best interests of the game. People like to criticize hypocrites.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
As usual, right on Peter. Mark: McAllister isn’t just a no-name DL. He’s a pretty well-known RB and every half-serious NFL fan has heard of Will Smith (the football player) and Charles Grant. I just recalled that Grant had some kinda stabbing incident this past offseason, and i’m not a saints fan. Bottom line: all these players are well known and are vital contributors to thier team’s success, and they should be condemned for their actions just as baseball players would. What do you mean people don’t care? If people care for the integrity of the game when it comes to Jason Giambi and Rogeer Clemens, they should care for the integrity of the game when it comes to Shawn Merriman and Deuce McAllister.
I actually wonder how it’s possible that only so little NFL players get caught using steroids. Michael Kay once said on his show on 1050 that a doctor once told him that it’s just impossible for the human body to weigh 350 lbs., like these OL do, and move around and run as fast as they do naturally.
Don’t forget, ESPN has a big deal with the NFL (MNF and the fact that every other program is NFL related), so the saying goes; don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
With media companies owning large portions of TV, Newspaper and other information outlets, it gets really hard to have an objective opinion (i.e. worries of sponsorship and other money making endeavors).
It’s like the government having a share of the housing market…oh let’s not go there. This country has a real problem and it is called corruption.
Good piece pete. Spot on accurate.
The NFL has a doping problem. It’s the 400lb lineman in the room. Players get caught all the time and the NFL and the media who cover it just move on.
Remember when the team Dr on the Panthers was arrested for giving his players scripts for roids and HGH? It was the year Carolina made the super-bowl. The Steeler’s team doc. Did the same thing!
Nobody cares! Shawn Merriman was caught doping and made the probowl that year. He also finished 2nd for Defensive Player of the Year award!
The NFL does a great job of controlling the message it wants to send out.
Steroids? That’s baseball’s problem.
Player misconduct? That’s the NBA’s problem.
It’s hypocricy, but there is a reason for the disparate reaction. The NFL had its first steroid crisis years ago. There was an SI story about Dave Meggysey (sp?), perhaps in the late 70s. The story blew the lid off of steroid use in the NFL.
The NFL reacted with a policy on PEDs, and sold it as being comprehensive and effective. Is that true? who knows? The NFL players look a lot like Hulk Hogan to me.
What is true is that the NFL was decades ahead of MLB in acknowledging and addressing the issue. They did as an organization what Andy Pettitte did as an individual – ‘fess up quickly, take corrective action, regain control of the PR reaction, and live happily on the residue of the initial contrition.
MLB (players, owners, management, union) is paying the price for digging in its heels, and will continue to do so.
Vader, your spot on about ESPN. Here’s a story from Dr. Z about his time on ESPN:
“I was an ESPN guy once upon a time. For a number of years I was at the anchor desk at the NFL draft. What sunk me, in the late ’80s (and I’m SURE I’ve mentioned this at least three or four times …I guess Linda was right…oh, what the hell) was the seemingly innocent question: What will the player of the 1990s be like?
“Bigger, faster, stronger,” etc., said Chris Berman, a sentiment echoed by Joe Theismann. But Dr. Z? Oh no, I had to be different. You know, colorful. So I said, “The player of the ’90s will be so sophisticated that he’ll be able to pass any drug test they come up with.” The sentiment behind that came from a talk I once had with the East German track coach, who told me that the drug labs in Leipzig were “so far ahead of the IOC that they’ll never catch up.” You know, I was going to say that the masking agents were ahead of the tests… all very educated and so forth. I was waiting for someone to get back to me so I could explain it, but that never happened.
Chris looked horrified and said, “I’m not touching that one.” Ditto Joe T. Then they went to commercial. And the switchboard lit up. And when we came back, I was off the set, and an ex-employee of ESPN. And I swear to you, your honor, that’s just the way it happened”
I don’t remember the story well but there a steroid dealer who supplied steroids to a number of NFL players. He was based in Texas.
He was found dead in June. Did corporate with the NFL and was going to name names but before he could was killed. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
This story was barely reported in the news. Almost no one knows about it. Now had this been baseball…………well I think we know what would happen.
Also the story said he supplied a number of Cowboys since he was based in Texas doesn’t surprise me.
Sort of like Balco in SF so all these Giants and Oakland players got caught.
“I think if steroid use was thought to be rampant by QBs and WRs, it would be a bigger deal.”
Agreed because those are the players marketed to be the face of the NFL.
But mostly I think the difference in attitude is that baseball is a game of stats and records that people seem to really care about. If Bonds was not in a record breaking chase, he would have gotten negative reaction but nowhere near the reaction he got.
Harry G.:
Of course, I know McCallister and the others are well known. What I meant to say is that the perception of most NFL players other than QBs and WRs is that they are not quite human. They might as well be that jumping robot on FOX. They are so far beyond, in terms of physical build, that the average fan can’t identify. Football players are basically machines let loose on Sunday.
That is not to say that I think it is okay to condemn baseball, while giving the NFL a pass. Just a point I was making that might explain some of the difference. Also, records, specifically the HR record, is very sacred, an any challenge to its integrity is taken very seriously. PEDs translate directly, or at least appear, to increased HR power. It is much more difficult to see how PEDs increase your yd/game rushing, receiving, or passing. How many more tackles, sacks, or ints does a defensive player make because of PEDs? They certainly help, otherwise they wouldn’t be used, but the direct correlation is difficult to determine.
If PEDs somehow helped baseball players to make more outfield assists or get to more plays defensively, but had no effect on HRs, or Ks for pitchers; there would be much less uproar about baseball, IMO
Some thoughts:
1) The NFL has a something close to a legit ploicy on this. The 8 players in questions will almost certainly face some punishment in the form of lost games/paychecks.
2) MLB and the MLBPA had to be dragged to D.C. and kicked around by our laughable US Congress before they put their half-assed policy in place. The story is more about how how MLB and MLBPA not only ignored the problem, but thrived on the results the problem produced. Football’s policy is miles from perfect, but they didn’t turn a blind eye to the issue the way baseball did. Goes along way toward explaining why baseball isn’t able to skate on this the way football is.
Fredo:
That is true as well, but it is more the perception of a legit policy, rather than an actual legit policy. I think that the majority of NFL fans assume, as long as their team isn’t being accused directly, that @75% of lineman and linebackers are still using something. Then a lesser % of RBs and safeties. Most probably think that the WRs/CBs/QBs who are using would be the exception rather than the rule. Humans that weigh 275+lbs cannot naturally run 4.6 40 yard times!! If there is anybody who can, it certainly wouldn’t be the amount of people in the NFL who can.
Baseball’s refusal to do anything about an obvious situation certainly brought the spotlight upon itself.
Pete – EXACTLY my thoughts throughout this whole thing.
Baseball player gets caught using steroids he has to go into hiding and hope people forget about him.
Football player does it they sit out 4 weeks and no one cares
Good point. Now why don’t you write an article and talk to your editor about placement? You have the ability to change the landscape. Don’t just whine about it. We know how much you were drooling over the Clemens stories…
no one cares about football cos the players are disposable. And everyone knows u have to be juiced to play. Its impossible to play not on something.
Don’t forget, ESPN has a big deal with the NFL (MNF and the fact that every other program is NFL related), so the saying goes; don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Do you ever watch Espn in the summer? Say, I don’t know, maybe Sunday night? Or, at like, 11pm every night? Or to your local ESPN radio station?
ESPN isn’t giving it a lot of attention because no one cares. Plain and simple. Football is a sport that you can just plug people in for the most part. You don’t have players sticking around for 20 years to care about and get attached to like in baseball. A guy gets hurt? Get rid of him, draft his replacement and move on. Theres no connection with the players like in baseball.
Remember Priest Holmes, Terrell Davis? These guys were great for about 15 minutes. Now they are just bodies on the scrap heap.
Are there even NFL equivalents of Clemens,Bonds,McGuire etc. that have tested positive for steroids. Those guys never even tested positive and they’re the face of the PED problem in American sports.
MLB got roasted because for years they were running a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding these drugs. Meanwhile the biggest stars were using PED’s and creating unprecedented revenues.
The NFL equiv. were Jerry Rice, Montana, Payton, Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Elway, Manning, and Brady. The recent all-timers/record holders. Never a sniff of anything like PEDs. Only Marino, who was accused of sniffing, in college, nothing in the pros. But even that was not PEDs.
Football doesn’t have an image of being this pure, clean, holier-than-thou sport so it doesn’t have that to live up to like baseball does.
It isn’t right.
When did the NFL institute their steroid policy in comparison to the MLB? That is where the answer rests. Free pass? Doubt it.
Perusing the papers today I’ve learned that Mike Mussina may or may not retire, AJ Burnett may or may not want to be a Yankee, A-Rod may or may not play in the WBC, CC may or may not want to come to NY but may or may not do it because money talks and Nick in SF must have been communicating with Joel Sherman again because Joel thinks some angle of the Hughes/Santana non-trade hasn’t been adequately covered.
I have learned that criticizing 1st and 3rd baseman for not hitting in big games is reserved for those who play in the Bronx and Queens and not Tampa. I’ve also learned that the 1st and 3rd baseman in Queens have been issued NY gun permits and I’m not talking about their throwing arms. The hotstove season can’t begin soon enough.
pat -
Thanks for the non-update update!
Good PED ‘bias’ points, Pete and others.
When looking at the NFLs lack of bad PR, look at pro bicycle racing. There, it seems like a guys career can be at risk of multi year suspension – or in some cases ending because his team disbands and he finds no other team will sign him after that – if he or even a teammate simply hangs around with someone who once used, administered, or sold PEDs.
An established top pro bike racer like Armstrong or Landis could take a hit like that in terms of financial end of his career. Landis’ career is over though I’m sure he has some cash left. But if it was one of the support guys on their teams getting fired simply for suspicion by association (even if they weren’t partaking) they’re screwed because they don’t make anywhere the same money as the sport’s stars. They have no six-figure minimum wage like the major pro sports.
Screw up in the NFL? NBA? Even if they don’t cut you some slack, you still made some good guaranteed cash or got a monster signing bonus …. so who cares?
Terry Bradshaw a couple of months ago came out and admitted he took steroids when he played. And no one made a big deal of it.
Can you imagine a former high profile Baseball player admitting that? It would be the talk of every sports show.
I could care less about the NFL and steroids. The size of the players hasnt changed since the Lyle Alzado days. There is no surprise here.
What I do care about is that Phil Hughes fastball still doesnt have movement.That’s what bothers me. He has always thrown a straight fastball. He uses it to set up his out pitch, the breaking ball. Can he suceed in the majors with a straight fastball?
“Joel thinks some angle of the Hughes/Santana non-trade hasn’t been adequately covered. ”
Was there a trade proposal I wasn’t aware of? Please everybody, spend the next 200+ posts explaining and dissecting this apparent bombshell that never was.
Delgado and Wright obtained gun permits?
Question:
What is the term for murdering your team’s chief nemesis and reason for not making the playoffs?
Answer:
Omarcide.
You’re right Pete. It is truely sickening.
maybe this just means that the NFL writers are smarter than the MLB sports-writers insofar as they are less inclined to make mountains out of molehills.
in other words, let’s not hold up how the baseball writers hyperventilate over steroids as the gold standard for covering these issues. i’m especially thinking of all the idiotic articles i’ve read that say the PED usage is worse than the Black Sox. Barry Bonds was trying to win the 2002 World Series….
Didn’t Hank say something similar to this in Spring Training?
Drive,
Not unless he gets back his Trenton Velocity he can’t.
He was always lauded for his combination of velocity and movement.
That scouting report in Sherman’s column is spot on from what we’ve been seeing. The lack of FB command is alarming.
Hughes’ curve isin’t that hard to pick up on and he has no changeup.
And if he falls in love with the cutter like he did against the Chi Sox, he will throw 100 pitches in 5 innings.
The kid is a mess right now. Just change him back to his old mechanics and go from there.
Well the NFL gets pounded for its criminals and malcontents, so I guess that makes up somewhat for the steroid use.
But it is hypocritical. Cheating is cheating.
Pete,
Thanks for the good post. I think it’s 2-fold.
1) Baseball purists (BBWAA is the main culprit) want to protect the sanctity of the sport and its holy-grail: the record books.
2) There’s a semi-conspiracy amongst non-baseball entities to want to keep the golden goose (football) productive.
Pat,
I loved it! (who’s got the permit? A-rod? Is he being stalked by the Material Girl or is he Crazy for Her?)
Bradshaw didn’t say he did it. He was very casual about letting it “slip” out on the Dan Patrick show that a teammate (yes, he named him-but he’s passed on) did steroids. Bradshaw can see it now, but didn’t know at the time claiming to be ignorant about the whole thing.
pat, that post made my day.
And I feel like utter crap, so that’s a huge accomplishment.
This post is just a tad bit ridiculous. None of the players are being accused of taking any PEDs. They are accused of taking a diuretic that was recently added to the list of banned substances. They all reportedly were taking the same supplement know as StarCaps to lose weight. The pills are listed as being all natural and have no mention of the banned substance as being an ingredient. The players are said to be planning on suing the manufacturer. The bigger story here is that all of these players names were leaked when these tests and results are supposed to be confidential.
Look, im as big of a fan of MLB as I am of NFL. The difference between the two leagues is that the NFL knows what it is doing with regards to PR. ESPN as a journalistic medium is absolutely horrendous. Maybe the MLB should recognize that and take advantage like the NFL is doing. There is a reason people go there for news instead of coming here.
Breaking News! Felix the Gardener was doing something during the organizational meetings…
Felix Lopez, son-in-law of George Steinbrenner, continues to capitalize on the power void in Tampa, where Hal Steinbrenner is busy running baseball operations with Brian Cashman and Hank Steinbrenner is busy making hilarious statements to the media.
Lopez organized Barack Obama’s usage of Steinbrenner Field as a campaign stop last Monday.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spkenbox265897392oct26,0,6426140.story
the nfl is the brad and butter for ESPN. They know not to poop where they eat. get forbid anyone anger roger godell.
uh….bread.
Plaxico Buress-What the hell?! What happened to the Plax from last year.
Disciplined again and isn’t playing today.
I think what’s alarming about the recent round of positive tests is the systemic abuse.
3 guys in the same locker room? What did they decide? They wanted to trim down in the middle of the season?
Also, hate to bring race into this, but a small part of may be that Barry Bonds treated the media badly and they turned on him with a vengeance.
Would it be a different story if Evan Longoria had been the first to test postive? Sadly, I think the persecution wouldn’t have been near the levels Barry got.
So Sherman says there is “word” that Burnett doesn’t want be a Yankee.
And it is followed up with a quote from his agent saying that is 100% false and he would be interested in the Yankees if he opts out.
So was there any point of that article?
S.A. – Now it is getting too much. He gets in trouble before our biggest game of the year?
Now, maybe it will be a blessing in disguise because Eli won’t feel compelled to force the ball to him in order to get him involved against his old team, but the whole thing is just deplorable.
Wilson-I know. This is getting ridiculous!
Though I think Plax still might have a chance to come into the game later, depending how it goes(Glazer wasn’t really too clear). But still, what is going on with him?
Let’s go Hixon.
“S.A.-Looking forward to 2009 and show CC the money (and food)!
October 26th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Plaxico Buress-What the hell?! What happened to the Plax from last year”
he got paid. That’s what happened.
he got paid. That’s what happened.
sad but true
mel from taco bell: I don’t know, Mark Mcgwire kind of got the heat for it and race isn’t an issue with him
Hal Steinbrenner, on how the Yankees’ new stadium plans have been impacted by the country’s economic struggles: “We’re fine with the progress we’ve made the last couple of months. With sales, luxury suites and premium seating. The important thing is, we realize what the fans are going through right now. We know what’s happening in the economy. The goal is to deliver the best bang for the buck in all aspects.”
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spken265897393oct26,0,7856384.column
couldnt agree more….football is a “sport” made for gambling and television, no one thinks these guys are clean, and noone cares because all they care about is the spread and seeing some roided up duche kick the ass of another roided up duche…
The Star ledger is saying that Plax is only benched for the opening series.
Whatever
Clemens has been raked through the coals.
Bonds is a diferent story. He was chasing Aaron’s record while there was mountains of circumstantial evidence against him. Big Mac was out of baseball by the time Canseco wrote his book. Bonds was the “juiceier” story (pun intended).
Why was Schilling at that meeting before congress?
Clemens got raked for lying.
Pete, next time read the whole article before you start ranting! When you hear about baseball players, it’s because they tested positive for “STEROIDS”. The NFL players you are talking about tested positive for a supposed “masking agent”. A dihuretic, a weight loss pill… not steroids. When baseball players test positive for a masking agent, it’s just as low-key and quiet as this is now.
Get the facts, then report them… stick to that because lately your “rants” have been pretty off-base.
Guy Ritchie is apparently very upset after seeing pictures of his son wearing a Yankee t-shirt.
If I could somehow get a message to Guy on behalf of the Yankee faithful, it would be “We’re with you on that brother!”
And how will our man-child 3rd baseman react when he eventually gets dumped?
Hopefully their common bonds of vanity, BS and phoniness will keep them together for at least 9 years. Yeah right!
Jeers.
LOL. Perhaps this will turn out to be Arod’s “lucky star”..
Clemens got raked for everything he did and did not do. Unfortunatly for him, there was precious little that he did not do.
Boston Globe, with a big article on the ‘Hot Stove’ issues du jour, has this take on Mussina.
“Another season for Moose?
We’ll see whether Mike Mussina retires as a 20-game winner. His belief all along has been that if he decided to come back, he’d almost have to commit for three years to assure himself a shot at 300 wins. Mussina has to be tempted. “It would take a real sit-down with him by Brian Cashman to convince him that the Yankees need to have him and that he’s wanted,” said a source close to the pitcher. “It would also take a lot of money, so we’ll see, but Mike’s the kind of guy who sticks to his guns.”
Any other Jets fans not getting the game on CBS I’m getting Saints/Chargers I’m irate right now.
Disregard my last comment. The game is on they were showing Saints/SD for some reason I dunno.
I think CBS was showing the opening jiberish from London. Their NFL overlords most likely made them
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10262008/news/regionalnews/the_mets_are_loaded_135381.htm
Uh oh.
This is getting real ugly real fast.
Say what you will about football in London, but it’s great to see a fan wearing a Cowboys jersey cheering for a nice play by the Saints.
Glad the fans abroad are seeing a good game this year
The Giants-Dolphins game last year was a mess… it was like a muddy, late January playoff game, neither team doing much.
Kind of pointless to bench Burress for just one series… its not going to do anything to him. If anything, it will take away his motivation to play a good game and he’ll just kind of disappear like he tends to do when things don’t go his way. Now it might be different today because its his former team, but generally it doesn’t work with him.
You can’t discipline/motivate him the traditional way.
They weren’t steroids that they tested positive for…
IMO, too many criminals in the NFL. The steroid use just isn’t as bad as some of the other drama you hear about in that league. It kind of gets a pass for that I guess. Not that I agree with that…
Don’t you write for a major paper?
Why can’t you write a feature on this and explain how the avg weight went up for NFL players and the speed and strength of each went sky high. But it’s all natural right?
ya know… many of u may consider me unamerican but i cant stand football. is it over analized and frankly pretty branless. yeah u gota know the plays and the formations blah blah blah. its a lame sport. I mean come on its more like handball that football. the name its self is stolen. u see thoses guys? they are freaks with their sausage heads. Ill take my yankees on tv anyday to dem jets or giants. ahhh that felt good!
The NFL has a bad image problem, not as bad as the NBA in recent years, but getting worse.
I think in many players cases it’s too rich too soon. There’s kids coming from lower middle class, or poor backgrounds, being given so much acclaim, and having money, women, and drugs thrown at them, what would any kid do? Their managers, agents, family ,etc., are just along for the ride to make money, damn the athlete. So the attitude develops, f-the coach, I made it, everyone can kiss my ass because I’m a millionaire.
“ya know… many of u may consider me unamerican but i cant stand football. is it over analized and frankly pretty branless. yeah u gota know the plays and the formations blah blah blah. its a lame sport. I mean come on its more like handball that football. the name its self is stolen. u see thoses guys? they are freaks with their sausage heads. Ill take my yankees on tv anyday to dem jets or giants. ahhh that felt good!”
i agree with a lot of this. but i do enjoy watching football…