Giants coach Tom Coughlin said after safety Tyler Sash was suspended four games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy that if the NFL would just apply common sense, the suspension would be lifted. Apparently the NFL’s PED policy is lacking in common sense.
Sash, who says his positive test was for the prescription medication Adderall, met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday but failed to have his suspension reduced, a source told the Star-Ledger.
It’s unclear why Sash’s suspension wasn’t reduced. The NFL seems to have inconsistent rules regarding the use of Adderall, as Giants running back Andre Brown got his Adderall suspension lifted entirely, while Texans punter Brett Hartmann got his four-game Adderall suspension reduced to three games. However, because of the confidentiality rules regarding the drug-testing policies, we really don’t know for sure if the NFL is being inconsistent: It’s possible that the NFL has a reasonable explanation for the different levels of discipline handed out to different players, but that the league can’t offer that explanation publicly because it would violate the players’ confidentiality.
Sash said he wants the NFL to clarify what the rules are.
“I just want more of an explanation,” Sash said before his meeting with Goodell. “There’s been some cases that I know of that people have gotten off with the same exact thing as me. So I just want to know why mine is different than some other people’s.”
That’s something many of us want to know. But the NFL isn’t saying.