Pats726

I think that is true..his desire to play was a nig factor in all of this. the one thing I think we do not know is how rampant the use of HGH is in the NFL. My guess is it's a lot higher than people will realize. It's also something that can not be tested for. yes, he got caught..had a prescription for and used it. But I wonder how many HAVE used it at times in their career? Easy be very moraliztic about it..but with no way to test for it, hardly real about it.

LloydBraun

If it was Manning or Freeney, I would poke fun at them but still have the same big picture outlook.

I remember the Merriman situation, and the first thing I thought was that he had to be stupid to get caught. Or, why didn't he just use HGH instead of the juice since there are no tests for HGH.

We, incl. me, are all SOOOOO naive to think that this problem isn't rampant I the NFL. These guys are huge, and have so much to gain and so much to lose.

gomezcat

Excellent point. I was wondering the same thing myself, i.e. how we would feel if a opponent got caught. Apology or not, I would expect the person to "do the time". I guess that extends to Rodney. It's disappointing, I must admit.

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scout

After digesting this information, my thoughts are, are there any other Patriots that will get caught? I'm assuming that the the percentages favor other players taking HGH. The hypothetical question is really difficult to answer. I deplore Bonds because of his arrogant attitude and his allegedly cheating. As a fan I'd say no, I wouldn't take performance enhancing drugs. But, a person never knows how they will react until that experience presents itself. Would you dive in front of a car to save a child, or stay faithful to your spouse, fudge numbers at work? Olympic athletes were asked a question years ago, if you could improve your performance with a drug, but live only five more years, would you take it (question may be a little off, but fairly accurate). The answer was overwhelmingly, yes. Would I take HGH if I was an athlete? I would like to believe I wouldn't.

Mainefan

This sums up my attitude exactly.

LloydBraun

Even the Bonds situation, and by no means do I condone Bonds' actions, but he looked at McGwire and Sosa and saw two guys without half the talent he has and they were the paster boys of baseball. Due to alleged PED's, they were receiving all the glory while he was the most talented player wasting away in obscurity.

Then, Bonds has an old buddy come along and offer him an undetectable, at the time, way to equal and surpass these guys. Yes, totally unethical, but if everyone is doing it the thinking may change.

Bonds had his reasons. Wrong, yes. But he had his reasons.

Funktopus

I wouldn't do it for the money or to enhance my athletic performance beyond its natural level, but if I thought it would improve my health or help me recover from an injury, I would definitely do it.

upstater1

I wouldn't do it, but I can understand where you are coming from. There are a lot of screwed up parents making these decisions for their kids right now. They are messing with the human body and don't the effects they are having. It's even in our food. Go eat Ben & Jerry's will ya? It contains an anti-freeze agent taken from the glands of bottom feeding fish, it preserves ice cream in heat. I know a few geneticists that are convinced the stuff is incredibly dangerous. But hey if it keeps ice cream from melting...

I don't think this is out of character at all. The very thing that makes us love Rodney is what made him take this stuff in the first place. We love him because he absolutely loves to play football, itches to get out there, and he knows he's at the end of the line and, even though he knew it was wrong, risked it fr one last hurrah. The guy has always been willing to risk abuse to his body. Let's face the truth. This is a sport in whcih Bruschi got out there in the same season after he suffered a stroke. Football is in the blood for these guys. Harrison is not Katzenmoyer.

Why do parents give their kids HGH? Why is this drug abused by doctors all over th US? Why do parents in Texas keep their kids back so that they can play football against younger kids?

People's priorities are messed up. Rodney's decision is messed up. But we can't pretend it's not consistent with everything Rodney has done in his career until this point. I think it is. The guy has 1 or 2 years left, barely played the last 2 years, is coming off a knee injury, and sped it up to end his career the way he wanted. Hmmm, makes sense. And it's really too bad. Look at Ted Johnson. Depression, headaches, broken marriage, AND he's putting out feelers to see if he can come back and play.

Dragda

Absolutely not. I like money, but its only money. I am through with any type of drug. Nothing can make me take one ever again.

DarrylS

Nicely said, this coupled with being on the big stage for so long makes a player want to stay there longer...

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