Report: NFL to demand HGH testing from players

Mandatory testing for human growth hormone will be part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement if the league's owners have their way, according to a report by Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com.

NFL vice president and general counsel Adolpho Birch said that the league is insistent upon HGH testing when it reaches a new deal with the NFL Players Association. Birch oversees the NFL's drug-testing program.

"We want it. We think it's necessary. We're going to ensure that it's done," Birch was quoted as saying in the article. "That's something very important to us and the integrity of our game. We believe some of the basis for going slowly on it before has been addressed. At this point, it's proper for it to be an active part of our program."

The news isn't new to representatives from the NFLPA. According to Birch, the league discussed the subject with the players before negotiations broke off and the lockout began on March 11. Marvez quotes an NFLPA source who said that an agreement for HGH testing "would have to be part of settlement discussions with the class." Both sides are awaiting a ruling in an antitrust lawsuit filed by the players.

It is unknown how the players' trade association — as the NFLPA is now classified following its decertification — will respond to the league's demands. Testing for HGH has been brought up before, but former NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw resisted the testing for his constituents, saying that many players had an aversion to drug testing that requires the use of needles.

Currently human growth hormone is illegal in the NFL, though there is no test for it. A failed test under the NFL's performance-enhancing substance policy brings a mandatory four-game suspension.

None of the other major American sporting leagues test for HGH. There is testing at the Olympics, though no athletes have registered positive since that test was implemented in 2004.

Source: http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/03/24/report-nfl-to-demand-hgh-testing-from-players

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