So what is the NFL Players Union afraid of?

[DownByLaw]

Updated: February 24, 2010, 1:34 PM ET

[h2]Report: NFL, union at odds over test[/h2]

ESPN.com news services

The NFL has proposed to the players' association the plan to use blood tests for HGH, according to a report in The Washington Post.

The union, however, remains opposed to the idea of the players undergoing blood testing.

The latest overture comes in light of Tuesday's report that an athlete was banned after testing positive for HGH. Terry Newton, a British rugby league player, became the first athlete to be suspended for using HGH. He acknowledged using the substance, and was banned for two years by the United Kingdom Anti-Doping authority.

HGH is banned in the major North American sports leagues, including the NFL and Major League Baseball, but the hurdle always has been the belief there was no effective, widely available test for the substance.

Major League Baseball also is keen on using blood tests for HGH, and plans to go ahead with such testing in the minor leagues later this season, according to a report in The New York Times.

"Our position is that HGH blood testing has advanced to the point where we are taking steps to incorporate it into our program," Greg Aiello, NFL senior vice president of public relations, told The Post.

The players' union, which would have to approve any proposal before blood testing can be done, rebuffed the NFL's plan, part of the ongoing labor talks, according to The Post.

"At this point, there's no reason to believe that blood-testing for NFL players will or should be implemented," George Atallah, union assistant executive director of external affairs, told The Post. "We should instead focus on preserving the drug-testing policy that we have in place."

The two sides can change the terms of the collectively bargained steroids-testing program without a new labor contract.

"All of us who have helped develop a test wouldn't put it in place if it wasn't forensically sound and reliable," U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart said, according to the New York Daily News. "Particularly in [Newton's] case, it's proof positive the test works."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

  There should be blood testing in every sport

 

[DeadsetAce]

 

[mr jordan04]

theyre all on that %*%%

 

[ooiron manoo]

If you think HGH was a problem in MLB. Wait until the lid gets open in the NFL.

 

[p mac one]

Is it really that difficult to figure out why the union wouldn't want to make it's players take blood tests?

I mean, they're a union, so they're gonna fight regardless of how they feel.

 

[duba169]

i don't give a flying !$+*. i really don't.

i don't see you guys caring about their health when the o line is getting their head rang every play. or a running back who gets beaten on every play.

 

[bijald0331]

Originally Posted by ooIRON MANoo

If you think HGH was a problem in MLB. Wait until the lid gets open in the NFL.

I agree with this. This request from the NFL might get serious attention because of the recent uptick in consciousness over concussions. 

 

[DownByLaw]

Originally Posted by DubA169

i don't give a flying !$+*. i really don't.

i don't see you guys caring about their health when the o line is getting their head rang every play. or a running back who gets beaten on every play.

When you say "you guys" are you referring to the fans or the NFL? These players choose this life and just because there is risk doesn't give them a pass to cheat.
  

 

[duba169]

yes i'm referring to the fans. people buy a ticket and want to see the best competition possible. this is a violent sport plagued by injuies and medical science has always played a large role in football more than other sports.

it's okay for them to get shots and be pumped with pain killers, but not steroids? where does the line between science and cheating start? where does that common fan start to care?

there is some notion that fans care as much about steroids as reporters do, and it's simply not true.

 

[N41D]

It would be interesting if a steroid scandal broke to see how Goodell and the NFL would handle it compared to how Selig and the MLB handled their mess...


It's obvious why they don't want it, but eventually blood testing is going to be mandatory throughout sports and they'll just find another way around it... It's a cat and mouse game...

 

[DownByLaw]

DubA169 wrote:

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it's okay for them to get shots and be pumped with pain killers, but not steroids?   
Comparing pain killers to taking steroids? You're reaching Dub, I know you could care less about the integrity of sports, but your opinion is in the minority.