Wes Welker’s good day at the Kentucky Derby turned out to be not so good.
His winnings that day exceeded $57,000. But human error resulted in the Broncos receiver being overpaid by nearly $15,000.
Now, he’ll lose a lot more than that due to his four-game suspension.
Per a league source, the banishment under the PED policy happened because Welker took MDMA, a banned substance under the substance-abuse policy, that had been cut with amphetamines, a banned substance under the PED policy. (Here’s where all the Walter Whites in the crowd will try to claim in the comments and on Twitter that MDMA and amphetamines are the same thing. They’re not, Jessie.)
As happened with Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick, pure MDMA wouldn’t have triggered a violation under the PED policy. The presence of amphetamines resulted in a one-strike, four-game suspension.
If the NFL and NFLPA had struck a deal on HGH testing, Welker likely wouldn’t have been suspended. It’s believed that the new drug-testing policies that will become effective if/when a final agreement is reached on HGH testing will result in amphetamines shifting to the substance-abuse policy during the offseason.