Tweet
The designer steroid "THG" might not be illegal yet, but that won't be a defense for NFL players.
All player testing samples taken this season are being re-screened for the recently discovered drug, a league spokesman said yesterday, and anyone who turns up positive will be suspended under the league's steroid rules.
"The way we view this is that our program prohibits steroids and related substances," spokesman Greg Aiello said. "(THG) has been identified as a steroid."
The man fingered as a source of THG (tetrahydrogestrinone), San Francisco-area nutrition guru Victor Conte, has denied that THG is a steroid, as have the attorneys of several athletes connected to Conte.
But Don Catlin, the UCLA scientist who discovered THG and said it was a steroid, also works with the NFL. The league took his word as gold.
"As soon as it was identified it was prohibited under the program," Aiello said.
Several track and field athletes have tested positive for THG, and could face suspensions if a second "B" sample turns up positive. NFL players are tested in a similar program, so the time from initial detection to an announced suspension could be several weeks. First-time offenders are suspended for four games, second-time offenders for six.
more
All player testing samples taken this season are being re-screened for the recently discovered drug, a league spokesman said yesterday, and anyone who turns up positive will be suspended under the league's steroid rules.
"The way we view this is that our program prohibits steroids and related substances," spokesman Greg Aiello said. "(THG) has been identified as a steroid."
The man fingered as a source of THG (tetrahydrogestrinone), San Francisco-area nutrition guru Victor Conte, has denied that THG is a steroid, as have the attorneys of several athletes connected to Conte.
But Don Catlin, the UCLA scientist who discovered THG and said it was a steroid, also works with the NFL. The league took his word as gold.
"As soon as it was identified it was prohibited under the program," Aiello said.
Several track and field athletes have tested positive for THG, and could face suspensions if a second "B" sample turns up positive. NFL players are tested in a similar program, so the time from initial detection to an announced suspension could be several weeks. First-time offenders are suspended for four games, second-time offenders for six.
more
