Does anyone know what teams do - in general - to support their players (and ultimately their product) from ending up suspended for use of banned substances?

This from Antonio Gates:
"In my 12 years in the NFL, I have taken tremendous pride in upholding the integrity of the NFL shield and all that it entails, Gates said. "I have taken extreme care of my body with a holistic approach and never taken any substance that was illegal or banned by the NFL. In an effort to recover from a long season and although I was unaware at the time, I regret to confirm that I tested positive for a substance that is currently on the NFL banned substance list." he continued. " As an NFL veteran and team leader, I should have done my due diligence to ensure that what I was taking for recovery was within the NFL guidelines. I have always believed that ignorance is no excuse when it comes to these issues, and I take full responsibility for my actions."

Obviously he and any player can proactively work to ensure that nothing that goes into their body is banned. So, I'm not excusing players from that responsibility. The team, however, has a seriously vested interest in players not being banned as it impacts the product they put on the field.

I guess I'm just surprised how many times some version of "oopsy-daisy" is in the statement released to the press.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2015 08:44PM by ChyrenB.

The guy sounds sincere and it appears that he is saying that it ended up being the drugs related to treating a football injury. Maybe the League itself should monitor all injury treatment if indeed that is what he means by recovery...from injury as opposed to recovery from doing drugs.

The best part about the latest round of suspensions is that Sheldon Richardson (Jets) will be gone for the first 4 weeks. We play the Jets in week 4 (London) BTW. Looks like Leonard Williams will be playing more than expected.

these guys are idiots. they know when their piss test is. the get it every april for recreational drugs. pass that and they have a year to party it up until the next one.

the league doesn't want to suspend them or it truly would be random.

the teams have an endless supply of resources for these guys. the old "I didn't know, it was a supplement" excuse is just that. a poor excuse.

some of these guys are just too stupid to get it.