The NFL Players Association has "tentatively agreed" to human growth hormone testing and accompanying punishment for the 2013 regular season, according to a union memo obtained Tuesday by NFL.com's Albert Breer.
The memo says that a first offense for any player who tests positive for HGH will bring a four-game suspension. The NFLPA will allow the league to obtain 40 blood samples for HGH tests each week during the testing, according to the tentative agreement.
The NFL denies that an agreement has been finalized.
"We do not have yet a comprehensive agreement for HGH testing and decline to comment on the union's memo," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
Breer reported earlier this week that the sides agreed on all procedural aspects of HGH testing. The last sticking point remaining, according to Breer, is the appeals process and the presence of a neutral arbitrator. The memo from the NFLPA revealed some of the details of the testing.
Every player in the NFL will provide a blood sample in training camp for a "population study" that will determine what level of HGH will result in penalties, the union wrote in the memo. Eight players randomly will be chosen from five teams each week during the regular season for testing. The memo says the comprehensive agreement likely will be finalized soon.
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