Inadequate suspension = no deterrent

[BoltsFan]

I know HGH is not in the same class as anabolic steroids, but substance abuse is substance and, I'm sorry, but a four game suspension is an entirely inadequate punishment from the NFL. Rodney should be banned for 12 months minimum, justy as Merriman should have been.

Goodell's worked really hard this off season to clean the NFL's act up with regards behaviour off the field, but this is as serious as the gun-toting, the DUIs and all the rest of it and should be treated as such.

The vast majority of professional sports from track and field through cycling to rugby and soccer have a minimum 12-month suspension for substance abuse, and until the NFL treats this issue with the seriousness it deserves it will continue to have a problem.

The message this sends to other players is: go ahead, take the risk, because even in the worst case scenario you're only going to miss four games.

I've loved Rodney as a Patriot, but he realy shouldn't be in our uniform this season.

It's about the NFLPA's agreement with the NFL. Period. Are you wondering why anyone who doesn't meet "standards" is not drawn and quartered? It's not exactly that simple.

Any governing body would be extremely hard pressed to institute any overly harsh regulations.

All things considered? I think that's as it should be. In the interest of making a point, to what end would hacking off someone's hand who stole from a person serve? What I'm suggesting is that should it always about an eye for an eye? Does that mentality always serve the general populace? Is there a happy medium?

 

[QuiGon]

I know HGH is not in the same class as anabolic steroids, but substance abuse is substance and, I'm sorry, but a four game suspension is an entirely inadequate punishment from the NFL. Rodney should be banned for 12 months minimum, justy as Merriman should have been.

I think the NFL substance abuse policy is structured so that you get a "warning shot" for your first offense. Of course, the NFL's "warning shot" is still 25% of the season, which is no slap on the wrist.

Goodell's worked really hard this off season to clean the NFL's act up with regards behaviour off the field, but this is as serious as the gun-toting, the DUIs and all the rest of it and should be treated as such.

OK, except none of those offenses carry a full season suspension for first offense.... so it kinda looks like it is being treated as such.

The vast majority of professional sports from track and field through cycling to rugby and soccer have a minimum 12-month suspension for substance abuse, and until the NFL treats this issue with the seriousness it deserves it will continue to have a problem.

You're comparing the NFL to cycling and rugby..? Puh-leeze. If you want to do a valid comparison, you have to use MLB and NBA. And fact is the NFL's policies are very much in line with (if not harsher than) those sports.

 

[QuiGon]

Admittedly I have not read everything on this yet, but my initial reaction is one of shock.. with that being said, as far as the penalty goes it appears that this is comparable to some type of plea bargain.[

There was no plea bargain. The rules state that if you get caught with a banned substance, you get a 4 game suspension. So Rodney is getting a 4 game suspension. Where's the "bargain" in that...? I'd hate to have you representing me in any sort of negotiations.

There are a wide variety of ways to get caught with a banned substance. In this case, there is no tainted urine sample. Rather, Rodney was busted by the feds. He admitted his wrongdoing and will be suffering the consequences.

 

[Water Boy]

Rodney could have said it was for a cousin or something like that.

Sort of like when Ty Law got stopped at the border with ecstasy.

 

[sdaniels7114]

What's more important? punishing or preventing? Rodney may only miss four games; but he's got a reputation now and will be under more scrutiny. I came across this article where its stated that no player caught cheating once had ever been caught cheating a second time, as of 2005 anyway. Maybe the multiple offenders are slipping through the cracks; but it seems to indicate that the policy does what I think most everyone wants. Which is prevent improper use, not extract revenge.

 

[spacecrime]

know HGH is not in the same class as anabolic steroids, but substance abuse is substance (abuse)

Substance abuse is not substance abuse. Having one drink too many is not the same as running a meth lab to support your habit. If you ever have kids, do them a favor, and do not tell them that a one-time marijuana use is the same as being a crackhead. You will lose some credibility that you will need to guide them through their teen years.

but this is as serious as the gun-toting, the DUIs and all the rest of it

Well, you are entitled to your opinion, of course. Let me just give mine: there is a difference to taking a substance your body creates naturally and using it to promote healing, and getting drunk and driving a hundred miles an hour down a Dallas highway, owning an arsenal of assault weapons, pulling guns on people and threatening to kill them, beating up your wife/girlfriend, and bashing a helpless dog's head against the pavement until it cracks open.

None of the above is the right thing to do, but all have different levels of seriousness. My opinion.

 

[shmessy]

The NFL and Commissioner Goodell are cleaning up the sport and all the people who have given it a bad name. I don't think we should start criticizing him now because it's one of our guys who is in trouble. Rodney admitted that he has used HGH for two years to recover from his injuries. It's not like he just got caught this week buying the stuff.

Nowhere did anything say he took it for 2 years. Please don't make up stuff.

Otherwise, you should just change your name from "Bad MoFo" to "Bad InFo".

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

The premise of any detterence argument is that players have some fear they may get caught.

I think it's a faulty premise.

I submit that the detterrent effect of 4 games versus 1 year would be negligible, and perhaps nonexistent. Put another way, I do not believe there is a single hypothetical player out there who is prepared to take HGH or Steroids despite the 4 game suspension who would change his mind if it were 16 games. The greater deterrent is the embarrassment and outing. And you get that with 4 games or 16.

Once you decide to take the stuff, you do so because you're convinced that you can get away with it, at which point the length of the suspension is irrelevant. Mind you, it's relevant from a punishment perspective but not from a detterent perspective. If you want to make the argument that we need to punish these things more harshly, fine. But that's not a detterence-based argument.

This is all particularly true with HGH, where there is very little chance of getting caught. They don't test for it, so the danger is solely that you'll get busted buying or selling or as part of an FBI investigation -- the chances of which seem so remote to an average player that it's not going to make a difference.

Short of a life time ban, I don't think the length of the suspension is going to change the mind of a single player considering whether to take this stuff. You'd have to posit a player who is truly 50/50 in equipoise to make the argument, and think that is a subset of zero.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

I agree with the original premise. A small chance of being caught + possible punishment of 4 games makes it a no-brainer for anyone rehabbing to take HGH. Either one or the other needs to change, otherwise the only person this will deter will be Rodney from doing it again.

 

[PATSNUTme]

It might not be for me to decide whether a suspension is adequate, but surely I'm entitled to an opinion? Isn't that why we come on here?

I don't understand your middle paragraph. It makes no sense whatsoever, and to the best of my knowledge Lance Armstrong has never failed a doping test. Sadly, however, the extraordinary acheivements of his career have always been overshadowed by the cloud of doping, because that sport got itself into such a mess it became difficult for many to believe in any rider.

We can argue the semantics of substance abuse all you want. But I think in relation to the doping policy of major sports, the taking of illegal substance is included.

Yes you are entitled to an opinion. I'm also entitled to my opinion.

My opinion is that your opinion is stupid. If your opinion is that being kept from the game that you love, that you just put in grueling Training Camp to be ready for, losing over $500,000, and public humiliation is inadequate, then your opinion is stupid.

I'm not personally attacking you. I'm just giving my opinion on your opinion.

 

[BadMoFo]

Nowhere did anything say he took it for 2 years. Please don't make up stuff.

Otherwise, you should just change your name from "Bad MoFo" to "Bad InFo".

Yeah, nowhere.

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, a law enforcement source said Harrison admitted he began using HGH two years ago to recover from injuries. The same source said prosecutors allowed an NFL security official to sit in on a conference with Harrison earlier in the week. At that time, Harrison made his admission and the official reported it to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, which led to a Friday hearing

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2999994

 

[JoeSixPat]

Mods - Merge?

 

[Deus Irae]

I've criticized Goodell over more than just Patriot issues, although I'm not sure if I've done any of that on posts here. He's been terrible, in my opinion. I never thought I'd be longing for Tagliabue so soon after his departure.

So you want the cheating and law breaking to continue?

Are you now going to try claiming that suspensions didn't occur under Tagliabue?

 

[Vern]

I know HGH is not in the same class as anabolic steroids, but substance abuse is substance and, I'm sorry, but a four game suspension is an entirely inadequate punishment from the NFL. Rodney should be banned for 12 months minimum, justy as Merriman should have been.

YAWN.

It's just not an issue in football. They don't hold themselves up to be some kind of holier than thou institution like MLB. The illegal crap that goes on the game is just not that big a deal.

Steroids as a "health and bad example for kids" issue is a NON ISSUE. Steriods as a matter of collusion and fraud IS A BIG ISSUE. That's why MLB is so screwed by it (that and the fact that the game is too boring to live on it's own merits and they need to appeal to records and history to make it worth following).

No one cares about Merriman even now, only one year later. Hell, you realize guys like Mean Joe Green wouldn't even be big enough to play LB in today's league? No one cares in the NFL, because they're up front about it, they penalize for it if you go too far, and they deliver the goods in terms of excitement and energy on the field.

It's the same reason Barney Frank could get caught hitting on interns in congress, with no real damage, but meanwhile that republican Craig guy with his gay-bashing sanctimonious crap will lose his job in scandal over it.