Will Le’Veon Bell Refuse Testing For HGH?

Jets running back Le’Veon Bell continued a strange trend recently of players revolting against the collectively bargained random drug testing procedure this morning. On Twitter, Bell claimed has has been randomly selected (he put random in quotations) five times over the past ten weeks to be tested for human growth hormone. Bell went on to say that he is “not doing another after today.”

Of course, while the chances of being selected for an HGH test are quite low (only 40 players are tested each week), Bell remains as likely to be tested next week as he has been in the past ten. While it remains likely that Bell was simply airing out frustration and would not actually refuse to do another HGH test if he is selected, if he did refuse, it would be considered equivalent to a failed test and he would have to serve a suspension.

Odell Beckham Jr. had similar complaints regarding the league’s standard performance enhancing drug testing last week. It is worth noting that HGH tests require a blood sample and are much more invasive than the standard urine tests for things like steroids. The blood sample is clearly a factor in Bell’s frustration.

Bell has been a mainstay in NFL news for the past two seasons. After his fallout with the Steelers organization led him to sit out all of last season, he signed a massive free-agent contract with the Jets, but has failed to live up to expectations. Rumors have already surfaced that new management in New York will look to trade Bell in the offseason.

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