HGH testing remains a thorny issue around the NFL. Nearly two years after the NFL and NFL Players Association announced an agreement regarding the need for testing, there still is no mechanism in place to test players.
While the two sides battle over the details, one NFL player says HGH use is going up. An NFC starter told Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday that he believes 10 to 15 players on each NFL team use the banned substance.
"It's like clockwork nowadays," the player said. "Not tested and it's easy to get. Nowadays, dude? In 2013? (Expletive) yeah. I'm just being real."
Dunne's article does a good job providing background on the issue, and we recommend reading it. But it doesn't break much new ground other than calling HGH use "rampant" and "prevalent." The anonymous player is just one of thousands.
"It's a guess," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Around The League about the estimate. "No one knows the extent of use because the union has blocked our agreement to test for HGH for two years and counting."
In a statement provided to Around The League, the NFLPA said, "We continue to actively work with the league to implement a fair, safe and effective test."
The more players and team representatives who speak on this issue, the better. Frankly, it's a topic that we need to know a lot more about.
That doesn't stop some people from voicing strong opinions. The anonymous starter quoted in the story, for one, doesn't believe HGH should be tested, and said most talking points on this issue are just "rhetoric."
"I say, just let guys do it," the player said of taking HGH. "This is our career. We're putting on for fans. I say ... HGH isn't anything. I say, do it. ... You're going to get hit hard regardless whether you're clean or not clean. It's just a matter of how hard you get hit. I don't care who's taking it. A hit is a hit."
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