Allegations on First Round Picks

by John B on Apr 4, 2009 9:46 AM EDT

A website named NFL Draft Bible reported allegations involving various tests conducted at the NFL Combine.

USC LB’s Brian Cushing & Clay Matthews tested positive for steroids at the NFL Scouting Combine, according to various sources, including one NFL team.

B.J. Raji, Percy Harvin, and Vontae Davis:

Boston College DT BJ Raji, Illinois CB Vontae Davis & Florida WR Percy Harvin tested positive for marijuana at the combine, according to various sources, including one NFL team.

All five players are first round prospects. Please note that these are only allegations.

Assume for a second these are true. This would only further prove how Draft prospects are guilty of overanalysis. What difference does any of this really make? Experimenting with pot in college disqualifies somebody from a job opportunity? 90% of the country would probably be unemployed if that was the case. Football players taking steriods is a big deal? Baseball and track and field are completely dirty. Are we to believe a sport based on physicality is not at least as bad? The media may not focus on football players doping, but it stands to reason the sport has just as big of a problem with players looking for an edge. If the story is accurate, none of these players are that much different from their peers in the Draft. They will have simply been among the unfortunate ones to get caught.

Think back to 1995. The Jets were on the clock with their first pick. Instead of making a risky pick on a player with pot rumors flying around him, the team went with a high character guy. The risky player was Warren Sapp. The guy they took was Kyle Brady. With the hindsight of fourteen years, does anybody believe the worries flying around Sapp amid these rumors might have been overblown, and the Jets made a mistake?

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Comments

I’d be a lot more cautious in selecting a player who tested + for roids than for weed. I would question how much steroids helped the player attain their current status and where they would be without them. Marijuana, on the other hand, would be more of a detriment to player performance (although it can be quite effective at alleviating the aches and pains of the daily grind of the game there are alternatives). Both drugs raise issues with the player’s character and maturity levels, but this can be further dissected through player interviews, etc.

by Ozone on Apr 4, 2009 12:43 PM EDT reply actions