HGH use for recovering from a severe injury

[marcus]

is a hell of a lot different from using anabolic steroids for performance enhancement when the athlete is in good health.

It is against the rules, but is it ETHICAL to not allow an athlete recovering from a severe football injury to not have aceess to a medication which helps in the HEALING process?


This was NOT for performance enhancement.

He broke the rules, but lets look at his intent.

 

[BWareofDWare]

Illegally speeding up the healing process is, by definition, an unfair competitive advantage when injuries in the NFL impair the ability of an individual and his team to be competitive. It's cheating no matter how you look at it. Merriman cheated by using steroids to increase his ability to deliver bone-crunching hits. Harrison cheated by using HGH to increase his ability to recover from the delivery of bone-crunching hits. Both were doing so illegally according to the NFL's rules, and were preventing a level playing field. It is as cut and dry as that.

 

[psychoPat]

is a hell of a lot different from using anabolic steroids for performance enhancement when the athlete is in good health.

It is against the rules, but is it ETHICAL to not allow an athlete recovering from a severe football injury to not have aceess to a medication which helps in the HEALING process?


This was NOT for performance enhancement.

He broke the rules, but lets look at his intent.

How dare you suggest that Rodney Harrison should be the judge of what enters his body !

What do you think the FDA is for?
What do you think 800,000 licensed physicians are for?

Oh wait. A physician did write up the prescription the FDA demands ... didn't s/he?

But what kind of society would we be
if everyone should decide what did or did not enter their own body?
Next thing ya know, people would be popping transfats!

 

[DefenseRules]

Marcus I am one of the biggest Rodney fans in Patriot Nation. Just look at the pic I use, and I'm a woman. However, what Rodney did was WRONG. I understand that his injury was severe. I still remember how that guy rolled into Rodney's leg and I saw how it was bent. It was a horrible sight, I almost cried. That was a CAREER THREATENING INJURY. At his age, he was what 33 or 34? To suffer an injury like that without the HGH it would have probably taken him 2 to 3 years to recover. But I would have rather seen Rodney stay clean and be patient with his recovery than tarnish his reputation like this. There is no excuse.

Rodney is my boy, but man I just can't give him an out for this one. I didn't sleep well last night because of this, and I don't feel much better today.
He knowingly took a banned substance. There is no excuse for that.
I can't sit here and bash guys like Michael Vick and Shawn Merriman and give one our guys a pass for using the same bad judgement. I just can't. I am so disappointed in him. I commend his honesty, but I just can't make excuses for his actions. HGH or Steroids what difference does it make? It's still cheating.

 

[BelichickFan]

Illegally speeding up the healing process is, by definition, an unfair competitive advantage

First, I understand that if your employer says it's cheating then it's cheating. Period. Your explanation of why it's cheating, though, is bizarre beyond words.

 

[Pats726]

There is no excuse for that. I can't sit here and bash guys like Michael Vick and Shawn Merriman and give one our guys a pass for using the same bad judgement. I just can't. I am so disappointed in him. I commend his honesty, but I just can't make excuses for his actions. HGH or Steroids what difference does it make? It's still cheating.

I think you are a bit delusional mentioning Michael Vick in all this...if you wish to put all people in the same boat..that is a BROAD brush with little thinking going on. Get some rest..you need it. I think there are always distinctions..not only in what one does but how one handles it..If you can NOT see a difference between one who owns up for what they did and one who denies and make excuses, I think you miss a great deal.

 

[JR4]

I wonder, could Rodney have retired after his injury,
used HGH legally (he had a Doc's perscription) then when healed, come out
of retirement? Would that have made a difference?

 

[PonyExpress]

Illegally speeding up the healing process is, by definition, an unfair competitive advantage when injuries in the NFL impair the ability of an individual and his team to be competitive. It's cheating no matter how you look at it. Merriman cheated by using steroids to increase his ability to deliver bone-crunching hits. Harrison cheated by using HGH to increase his ability to recover from the delivery of bone-crunching hits. Both were doing so illegally according to the NFL's rules, and were preventing a level playing field. It is as cut and dry as that.

Tell that to Wade Wilson, a current coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He was the "assistant coach" who bought HGH in the Federal investigation. He probably is distributing them in the Cowboy locker room right now.

 

[Pats726]

I wonder, could Rodney have retired after his injury,
used HGH legally (he had a Doc's perscription) then when healed, come out
of retirement? Would that have made a difference?

One wonders about that...but it's a good question getting a legal loophole AROUND that..indeed if the timing of the meds etc was in that frame work. My thinking is if he had retired and had a legal prescription..there could be no problem..although there might be red tape with the CBA on retiring and coming back and...but an interesting point.

 

[loosebearing]

There must be a reason for banning HGH

ie if Rodney hadn't felt the compulsion to return (as we all know injured Patriot players are ostracised which increases the need to return) would he have gotten as many injuries in the last 2 years. By rushing back from one injury does it create weakness in the body to thereby have 2 years of injuries.

Don't know - just asking about the Risk/Reward

 

[Pats726]

There must be a reason for banning HGH

ie if Rodney hadn't felt the compulsion to return (as we all know injured Patriot players are ostracised which increases the need to return) would he have gotten as many injuries in the last 2 years. By rushing back from one injury does it create weakness in the body to thereby have 2 years of injuries.

Don't know - just asking about the Risk/Reward

read the Curran article I posted....I am sure there are many words in medical journals about this.

 

[BWareofDWare]

Tell that to Wade Wilson, a current coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He was the "assistant coach" who bought HGH in the Federal investigation. He probably is distributing them in the Cowboy locker room right now.

He admitted to receiving HGH and anabolic steroids as a coach of the Bears. I am sure that there are players on The Cowboys and every other team in the NFL finding ways to beat the system and use illegal performance enhancers.

The difference is, and correct me if I'm wrong, but there has been nobody on The Cowboys crying for years about not being respected, while at the same time cheating, and therefore disrespecting the game that provides for them a living in the first place.

 

[loosebearing]

read the Curran article I posted....I am sure there are many words in medical journals about this.

everyone is bringing up ethics and cheating (able to come back faster to hit people) but my opinion is that in the past 2 years he really hasn't come back. It's play a game be out a month or longer. Its like Ted Johnson after he bulked up - he didn't play for 2 1/2 years. Torn bicepts happen all the time - don't they?

 

[BWareofDWare]

First, I understand that if your employer says it's cheating then it's cheating. Period. Your explanation of why it's cheating, though, is bizarre beyond words.

It was a late Friday night, so sorry about that. To me (and apparently to the NFL as well) there is no difference between:

- Using steroids to gain an illegal competitive advantage on the field physically, an unfair way to make yourself faster and stronger than your opponents.
- Using HGH to gain an illegal competitive advantage in accelerating the healing process.

NFL players are always working to make themselves stronger and faster, but another big piece of their job security is staying healthy, and returning from injury quickly. One means of cheating may show more directly on a play-by-play visual basis on the football field, but both are cheating.

I guess if I were to use my reasoning to an example in another sport, it'd be a pitcher in baseball. If Player A is using a drug to throw the ball faster, that to me is just the same level of cheating as Player B using a drug for a speedier recovering between outings etc.

 

[BelichickFan]

Again, I'm not making excuses for it - but as football fans we should all want plauyers to heal as well and as quickly as they can either to get back on the field or to live normal lives.

He broke the rules. He's suspended. But accelerating the healing process is a GOOD thing.

 

[BWareofDWare]

Again, I'm not making excuses for it - but as football fans we should all want plauyers to heal as well and as quickly as they can either to get back on the field or to live normal lives.

He broke the rules. He's suspended. But accelerating the healing process is a GOOD thing.

So would getting stronger and faster (as Merriman did) by using steroids be a good thing as well?

 

[Pats726]

everyone is bringing up ethics and cheating (able to come back faster to hit people) but my opinion is that in the past 2 years he really hasn't come back. It's play a game be out a month or longer. Its like Ted Johnson after he bulked up - he didn't play for 2 1/2 years. Torn bicepts happen all the time - don't they?

One asked anout risk/reward and there is much written I am sure about many uses of HGH. We don't know when he took them really so it's hard to jusge how helpful they were to his recovery; what factor it has been.

 

[BelichickFan]

So would getting stronger and faster (as Merriman did) by using steroids be a good thing as well?

There is no comparison between using something to get back to your natural abillity vs. using something to go beyond it.

 

[Real World]

I wonder, could Rodney have retired after his injury,
used HGH legally (he had a Doc's perscription) then when healed, come out
of retirement? Would that have made a difference?

He wouldn't have been paid.

 

[loosebearing]

One asked anout risk/reward and there is much written I am sure about many uses of HGH. We don't know when he took them really so it's hard to jusge how helpful they were to his recovery; what factor it has been.

My point is that

Steroids, HGH etc are not banned or determined to be illegal because of their Healing effects - but because of there percieved long term harm to the body. (ie do we want our youth taking them???)
And I say that if you are looking for which people take them - look at those who can't stay on the field (ie TO, Randy etc) vs those who do (ie Brady, Vrabel etc)