Well, maybe there’s reason for hope, after all.
At a time when it otherwise appears that the NFL and the NFLPA can’t agree on anything, Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports the league and its players union have crafted a joint message to all players reiterating the importance of the policy regarding anabolic steroids and other banned substances.
The move comes in the wake of a federal appeals court ruling in the ongoing StarCaps litigation that protects Vikings defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams from four-game suspensions after testing positive for Bumetanide, which had been secretly added to the weight-loss supplement known as StarCaps. As a result of the ruling, which affirmed a trial-court decision from May 2009, the NFL opted not to suspend three other players (Saints defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith and former Saints running back Deuce McAllister) for taking the same supplement.
The memo from the NFL and the NFLPA reminds players that they are responsible for what is in their bodies, and it encourages them to take only supplements that have been approved in advance by the league.
“Supplements are not tested or regulated and often have ingredients that will cause you to test positive,” the memo explains.
It was smart to send the memo, since some players might have emerged from the past two weeks thinking that the steroids policy has been overturned.
Then again, that might very well be the case for Vikings players, given that the Williamses have to date avoided their suspensions via two Minnesota statutes that, based on multiple federal court rulings, supersede the NFL’s drug-testing policies.
Hopefully, the league and the union will continue to work together in the hopes of closing that loophole.
And maybe that’s been the basis for the recent efforts by the league to blame the situation on the union. Perhaps the league believes that, by placing public pressure on the NFLPA, the union will agree to help fix the problem with the steroids policy without getting anything in return.
Given the realities of collective bargaining, however, the union might be inclined to shrug its shoulders, describe the situation as the league’s problem, and wait for a concession to be offered to the union in exchange for consent to any measures aimed at ensuring the CBA applies in every state where the NFL does business, including Minnesota.
The union has adopted the same tactic with respect to the concept of a true rookie wage scale. But, at some point, the union must abandon the “what’s in it for us?” mindset. It’s in the best interests of all players to have an effective steroids policy in place, if for no reason other than the fact that it will keep Congress from swooping in and imposing far stiffer rules and penalties on players who cheat.
It is in their best interest to have a rookie cap as well. So far the NFLPA has been resisting this, which doesn’t make sense. Surely they understand that having to pay untested rookies huge money rewards before they ever play a down is taking money away from vested veterans? Every time a rookie gets paid top dollar it is a slap in the face of the veterans. It can not be sustained, and the NFLPA should be demanding that the situation be fixed.
The fact of the matter is that if the NFL would have done a better job of communicating their substance abuse policy in the first place none of this side show/circus would be an issue. Instead, they went the devious “tell them only what we want them to know” route. It smacks of a parent telling their child, “Because I said so!” not feeling any obligation to give explanation or clarity, simply assuming blind obedience “or else.”
Given the realities of collective bargaining, however, the union might be inclined to shrug its shoulders, describe the situation as the league’s problem, and wait for a concession to be offered to the union in exchange for consent to any measures aimed at ensuring the CBA applies in every state where the NFL does business, including Minnesota.
Couldn’t the league then decide to “encourage” the movement of the team to a state with laws that are more in line with the CBA?
But, at some point, the union must abandon the “what’s in it for us?” mindset.
This has been my problem with unions since I found myself a member of one. The greedy, selfish, profit and business killing mantra of unions has driven many companies and states into bankruptcy, and it’ll eventually do the same to the NFL.
There will never be a rookie salary cap because the union knows that for a large portion of rookies that cash in, it is their only real shot at big-time money, because for every Adrian Peterson there are two more like Reggie Bush, or worse yet, like Justin Harrell.