Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will miss the first six games of the season because of a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance, but Hopkins doesn’t think that’s right.
Hopkins doesn’t deny that he tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine, but he says he had only a very small amount in his system, doesn’t know how he could have ingested it, and thinks the NFL ought to look at extenuating circumstances when disciplining players.
“I’ve never taken any of that kind of stuff,” Hopkins said, via ArizonaSports.com. “If you know about what it is, it can be in shampoo, it can be in a lot of different things. Obviously the NFL is very black and white, so of course, I wish the rule wasn’t so black and white. It is what it is. It’s hard to know when something gets contaminated at a trace amount when you’re not working at the manufacturing company.”
Hopkins maintains that anyone can get a small amount of a banned substance in his system without knowing it.
“It’s hard to know what you can eat, what you can do when you’re not in control of manufacturing anything or what goes through a conveyor belt, you know what I’m saying?” Hopkins said. “So, obviously, I do think that rules should change. But like I said, that stuff, it’ll work itself out, and I’ve never taken anything. I barely take vitamins.”
Hopkins has been making similar comments since his suspension was first reported, but the reality is Hopkins’ union and the NFL both agreed to the PED policy, and there’s just not a lot of wiggle room for players to say they don’t know how they consumed a banned substance. If you test positive for a performance-enhancing substance, even for a trace amount, you’re suspended.