The league and NFL Players Association haven't given up on getting human growth hormone testing in place for the 2013 season, even after a significant stalemate in talks occurred earlier in the year.
According to union and league sources, the NFL submitted a new proposal on human growth hormone testing to the union on April 24. It included a concession in the elimination of game-day testing, which had been part of previous proposals.
One union source said the issue now is that the league's proposal calls for testing to begin immediately. The samples would then be tested, and results would be stored, until the World Anti-Doping Agency comes up with the baseline standard for acceptable levels. The union, per the source, would rather wait to start drawing blood and testing until the baseline is determined and full testing is ready to be implemented.
"A population study that both parties agreed to a year ago would have resolved the issue of accuracy," union spokesman George Atallah said.
The NFLPA relayed the details of the NFL's proposal to its player reps on a conference call this week. Per the union source, the NFLPA is working on a counter proposal that could be submitted to the league next week.
A league source said the NFL hasn't heard anything back from the union on HGH in the month since seeing its proposal.
The last set of talks fell apart after the league informed the union, in a letter from NFL senior vice president of labor policy and government affairs Adolpho Birch, that it was no longer interested in doing a population study to determine the baselines for testing.
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