As part of the new CBA, which was ratified last week, the NFL will begin testing for performance enhancing drugs on game day, a first for the league, according to the Associated Press.
NFL Adding Game Day Tests For Performance-Enhancing Drugs
The league’s senior vice president of law and labor policy, Adolpho Birch, said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters that tests weren’t conducted in the past on days there were games “because of logistical issues involved, much more so than any philosophical issues.”
Adolpho went on to say that the league now has a way to test players that “is not overly disruptive to the clubs and that respects the game-day process.”
In the wake of the news that the NFL will become the first league to begin testing for human growth hormone, this is by no means the most radical addition to the anti-substance policy this season, but it is an interesting development.
Most athletes have very specific pregame routines, and any drug test, I would imagine, would have to disrupt those. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some voices of displeasure in locker rooms after Week 1 games.
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