NFL Players Association - Pro Football Rumors

NFL To Make Changes To Personal Conduct Policy

September 19th, 2014 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed reporters and fielded questions at an afternoon press conference in New York today, and vowed that the league will make changes to its personal conduct policy. According to Goodell, “nothing is off the table” when it comes to potential changes, which he expects to discuss with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith. The league hopes to have the process completed by the Super Bowl.

Additionally, Goodell indicated that he’ll be establishing a “conduct committee” to review possible changes and implement the best possible practices. The experts hired by the NFL will also review the commissioner’s role in various processes — by suggesting that nothing’s off the table, Goodell hinted that perhaps he may cede some power when it comes to disciplinary decisions.

While Goodell pledged to be transparent as the NFL considers changes to its personal conduct guidelines and other policies, the commissioner didn’t get into many specifics regarding the Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Greg Hardy situations after opening up the floor for questions. Goodell deferred to the appeal and legal process in those cases, declining to comment on issues such as what Rice initially told the league was on the elevator video that became public last Monday, or how TMZ got the footage with “one phone call” when the NFL couldn’t.

Goodell also said that he has not considered stepping down from his job as NFL commissioner. “I am focused on doing my job. We have work to do. That’s my focus,” Goodell said.

Substance Abuse Policy Finalized, Gordon Ban Reduced To 10 Games

September 19th, 2014 at 1:59pm CST by Luke Adams

After announcing changes to the league’s PED policy earlier this week, the NFL and NFLPA have issued a joint statement indicating the substance abuse policy has been updated as well. As part of the new policy, Josh Gordon and LaVon Brazill, who is currently playing for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, will have their suspensions reduced to 10 games, down from a full year.

Here are the other pertinent updates to the substance abuse policy, per the press release:

Two discipline stages will be added for marijuana positives, as follows: a first violation will result in referral to the substance abuse program, as is the case today. Subsequent violations will result in a two-game fine, a four-game fine, a four-game suspension, a 10-game suspension, and one-year banishment. The new stages are the two-game fine and the 10-game suspension. In addition, the threshold for a positive marijuana test will be raised from 15 ng/ml to 35 ng/ml, reflecting recent actions taken by other testing organizations.
Discipline for DUI and related offenses will be increased. A first DUI offense, absent aggravating circumstances, will result in a two-game suspension without pay. A second offense will result in a suspension of at least eight games without pay. In either case, a more lengthy suspension may be imposed if there are aggravating circumstances.
Appeals of positive tests in both the substance abuse and performance enhancing drug programs (including HGH) will be heard by third-party arbitrators jointly selected appointed and retained by the NFL and NFLPA. Appeals will be processed more expeditiously under uniform rules and procedures.

NFL, NFLPA Announce New PED, Drug Policies

September 17th, 2014 at 10:55pm CST by Luke Adams

10:55pm: Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) has the breakdown of the new substance abuse policy.

A player will enter a program after one failed test and face a two game fine for a second failed test. From there it’s a four game fine for a third failed test, a four game suspension for a fourth flunked test, a ten game suspension for a fifth violation, and a one-year ban for a sixth failed test.

9:48am: The NFL and NFLPA have released a joint statement announcing changes to the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. The press release doesn’t include details on the NFL’s new substance-abuse policy, but notes that those changes are expected to be announced soon as well, once the two sides finalize their agreement.

The new agreement on performance-enhancing drugs will allow Broncos wideout Wes Welker, Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick, and Rams receiver Stedman Bailey to return to their respective teams this week. The agreement was expected to make a few more players eligible for immediate reinstatement, but those three names are the only ones mentioned in the release, so presumably other suspended players will have to wait a little longer, or serve their full suspensions. Additionally, when the substance-abuse policy changes are finalized, several more players could be reinstated.

Here are some other highlights of the new policy, per the release:

HGH testing will be fully implemented this season.
Appeals of positive tests in the performance enhancing drug programs (including HGH) will be heard by third-party arbitrators jointly selected and retained by the NFL and NFLPA.
Discipline for violations of the performance enhancing drug policy (including for HGH) will be modified.
A first violation will result in a suspension without pay of up to six games depending on the nature of the violation. Use of a diuretic or masking agent will result in a suspension without pay of two games. Use of a steroid, stimulant, HGH or other banned substance will result in a suspension without pay of four games. Evidence of an attempt to manipulate a test will result in a suspension without pay of six games.
A second violation of the steroid policy will result in a suspension without pay of 10 games.
A third violation will result in banishment for a minimum of two years.
Players who test positive for banned stimulants in the offseason will no longer be suspended. Instead, the player will be referred to the substance abuse program. Players who test positive for banned stimulants during the season will continue to be suspended without pay for four games.

New Drug Policy To Be In Place By Week 3

September 14th, 2014 at 8:43am CST by Dallas Robinson

The NFL and the NFLPA will not finalize an agreement on a new drug policy today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), who reports that a deal should be in place early this week. In fact, the negotiations could be completed by as early as Monday night, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

After approving the altered policy on Friday, the union has continued to hammer out minor issues with the league — however, Rapoport tweets that the return dates of suspended players is not a point being debated. Rather, the two sides are discussing “language issues,” such as the use of neutral arbiters in the event of law violations. As La Canfora notes, lawyers for the two parties have worked on the agreement for nearly four years, so there’s a committed approach to concluding negotiations.

Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that both the NFL and the NFLPA are pleased with the final outcome of the process, and that the new agreement is “one both are proud of.” Additionally, Rapoport says (Twitter link) that Giants cornerback Jayron Hosley, who was hit with a four-game suspension in June for violating the substance-abuse policy, could see his ban dropped, making him eligible to play in Week 3.

Latest On NFL Drug Policy

September 13th, 2014 at 8:48am CST by Ben Levine

Those who were hoping they’d wake up to find a new league drug policy will be a bit disappointed this morning. There were indications yesterday that a deal was imminent, and that still appears to be the case. However, the two sides said this morning that there were still some issues to be resolved.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com that a policy is “not done” and that there was still “some work to do.”

Meanwhile, the NFLPA released an official statement:

“The Board of Player Representatives gave the NFLPA authority to complete new drug policies with the League consistent with detailed term sheets the players reviewed. We hope to have final agreements, including effective date for players with adjusted discipline, very soon.”

While the agreement has not been finalized, some details have been reported. Let’s take a look at the latest news…

USA Today’s Tom Pelissero tweets details regarding discipline for marijuana use: an initial positive test would result in a two-game fine and a second positive would earn the player a four-game fine. Subsequent positive tests would be punished by a four-game ban, a ten-game ban and a one-year ban.
The penalties for using other “drugs of abuse” will be more strict than the marijuana penalties, tweets Pelissero. A first test would lead to a four-game fine, followed by a four-game ban and then a one-year ban. The writer notes that some players argued against these punishments.
A first offense for a DUI conviction will be punishable by at least a two-game ban (via Pelissero’s Twitter). The commissioner has the right to increase the suspension based on “aggravating circumstances.”
Pelissero also tweets that the two sides are hoping to begin HGH testing within the next two weeks. There would be varying punishments for a first offense, followed by a 10-game ban and a two-year ban.
Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets that not all players were in favor of reducing Josh Gordon‘s suspension. In a subsequent tweet, Cole adds that players who don’t use recreational drugs aren’t necessarily in favor of easing the penalties.

NFLPA Player Reps Approve Drug Policy

September 12th, 2014 at 10:17pm CST by Luke Adams

10:17pm: While the player reps voted to move forward with the new drug policy, the fact that there’s still no official deal means teams are being informed that suspended players are unlikely to be reinstated in time for this weekend’s games, tweets Rapoport.

8:13pm: “We have not yet reached an agreement with the union. There continue to be significant unresolved issues,” a league spokesperson tells Mortensen (Twitter link).

8:02pm: Just because the player reps gave the go-ahead for the NFLPA to finalize an agreement with the NFL doesn’t mean it’s official yet. As Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com tweets, there are still some “unresolved issues” to hammer out, perhaps including the reinstatement of suspended players for this weekend.

6:20pm: The 32 team player reps for the NFLPA voted today to approve the new drug policy proposed by the NFL, which will include HGH testing, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). The yes vote from the player reps allows NFLPA leadership to assent to the changes proposed to the policy by the league, tweets Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported (via Twitter) earlier this evening that the player reps were having a “heated discussion” about the league’s proposal, with no guarantee that it would pass. However, when the vote was taken, the player reps were in unanimous approval, tweets Rapoport.

“This is an historic moment for our Players and our League,” said NFLPA President Eric Winston in a statement. “We have collectively bargained drug policies that will keep the game clean and safe, but also provide our players with an unprecedented level of fairness and transparency. Players should be proud of their union for standing up for what was best for the game.”

The new agreement should allow certain suspended players, such as Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick, to play as soon as this Sunday. Josh Gordon‘s year-long suspension will reportedly be reduced to 10 games under the new policy.

Here are the key modifications being introduced in the new policy, according to the NFLPA’s statement:

New Drug Policy Likely To Be Passed Tomorrow

September 11th, 2014 at 11:09pm CST by Zachary Links

11:09pm: Rapoport and Breer published a joint post on NFL.com, reporting that the policy will likely be voted on and passed tomorrow. The league agreed to drop its request of a mandatory one-game suspension for DUI arrest, but there will be two-game suspensions for DUI convictions. Additionally, the THC threshold is expected to move from 15 nanograms/milliliter to 35 ng/ml, which is still less than the standards of MLB (50 ng/ml) or the Olympics (150 ng/ml).

9:40pm: While Rapoport says (on Twitter) that the it’s “no sure thing” that the policy passes tomorrow, Breer tweets the the union received a fresh proposal from the league tonight, and it looks like the new deal will go through. Additionally, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report notes (Twitter link) that though the THC threshold will be increased in the agreement, it won’t be upped to Olympic levels, as many players are opposed to such a notion.

8:30pm: Breer tweets he’s been told repeatedly that the NFLPA will not vote on a proposal without knowing that it will “pass overwhelmingly,” which indicates that the union’s vote tomorrow will result in a new policy being ratified.

8:13pm: The union has scheduled a vote on the new policy for tomorrow afternoon, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Players suspended for amphetamine use – such as Welker, Scandrick, and Dion Jordan – would be reinstated under the agreement (link).

7:28pm: A source close to the negotiations tells Dan Graziano of ESPN.com that the players could vote on the new policy as early as Friday. The new deal could result in an instant reistatement for Wes Welker a reduction of Gordon’s suspension to something in the range of 6-10 games. There are other key changes to the drug policy being discussed, including the handling of HGH testing.

4:23pm: The two sides are circling around a few remaining issues with the policy and are trading proposals, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (on Twitter). He doubts there will be anything approved by the players tonight, however. Major hurdles have been cleared in the discussions, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network.

3:00pm: Both the NFL and NFLPA are hoping to finalize a new drug policy tonight in which the suspensions will wind up being overturned, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.

2:26pm: The NFLPA told its union representatives to be on standby for a potential vote on a new global drug policy, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. As we’ve heard before, reinstatement for some suspended players is also on table in the talks.

However, the Josh Gordon case remains tricky since his failed test took place before new league year, which is when the grandfathering of the new rules would begin (link). The new league year officially began on March 11, 2014 and the Browns wide receiver flunked his test prior to that date. Others like Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick, however, could be back in action rather quickly since their positive tests took place in the 2014 league year. The NFLPA has previously said that they would want players who are serving drug suspensions back on the field under the new rules.

Yesterday we heard that there has been significant positive movement toward an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy, though the league dragged their feet on a new proposal. There was major skepticism yesterday that anything could get done in time for the suspended players to get reinstated for Sunday and from the outside it still sounds unlikely. One might speculate that the ongoing Ray Rice scandal has thrown a wrench into the progress of the drug policy talks.

Latest On Drug Policy Talks

September 10th, 2014 at 7:08pm CST by Luke Adams

7:08pm: The NFLPA hasn’t received the league’s response to the latest edits on the drug policy, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. With a game tomorrow, a vote amongst team reps is now unlikely before Friday.

1:43pm: There has been significant positive movement toward an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy for the league, according to Albert Breer and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (Twitter link), who report that the league has dropped its request for discipline upon DUI arrests (without due process). The team player representatives are expected to spend the next 24 hours reviewing the details of the NFL’s latest proposal, and if all goes well, they should conduct a vote before Sunday (Twitter link).

While the DUI issue appears to have been tentatively resolved, there are still a couple areas of contention, according to Breer and Rapoport. The two sides have yet to agree upon the HGH testing protocol and neutral arbitration on appeals — the union’s lawyers flagged language in those two areas that had been modified in the league’s most recent proposal, and that was enough to force the team player reps to postpone a vote on whether or not to approve the new policy (Twitter links).

Still, there are a number of areas which have not been divisive and have essentially been agreed upon, including the idea of revisiting all player suspensions for the 2014 league year relating to the drug policy (Twitter link). If the new policy is approved this week, players like Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick – who were suspended for 2014 violations – would likely be able to play as soon as this Sunday (Twitter link). Those suspensions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but Welker’s and Scandrick’s bans were based on a part of the policy which will be modified to make penalties less punitive, so they should be retroactively wiped out.

Of course, not all current suspensions will be so cut-and-dried; Breer and Rapoport point to Josh Gordon‘s case as one that will be a little more complicated (Twitter link). An agreement on a new drug policy would mean revisiting all suspensions levied since the new league year began on March 11, 2014, but while failed tests like Welker’s and Scandrick’s actually took place this year, Gordon failed his test last season. So even though the Browns wideout wasn’t disciplined until this year, the new policy may not apply to his suspension.

However, until a new plan is approved and until we hear exactly what it entails, we’re still in wait-and-see mode. For now, it appears that the NFLPA is moving toward voting on the NFL’s proposal, perhaps as early as tonight, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post (Twitter link).

NFLPA Doesn’t Vote On New Drug Policy

September 9th, 2014 at 9:45pm CST by Luke Adams

9:45pm: The saga continues. NFL player reps could vote on a new drug policy soon as tomorrow and suspended players expecting their reinstatement believe that a quick return to the field is possible, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.

9:20pm: In the new proposed program, players who test positive for marijuana will have a few extra stages and the second offense will drop from a four-game suspension to two games, tweets Glazer.

9:06pm: There are still five issues at hand for the NFLPA and the NFL to iron out, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The union is hoping to have an update for players within the next 24 hours.

8:56pm: The conference call is ongoing but the sense amongst the NFLPA is still that the proposal isn’t good enough to vote on, Breer tweets.

8:44pm: It doesn’t sound like there will be a vote anytime soon either, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

8:38pm: NFL player reps will not vote on the new policy tonight, a league source tells Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The two sides were hung up on the issue of DUI punishment, says Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

Sources tell Albert Breer of the NFL Network (on Twitter) that there were so many issues with the proposal that the NFL put in front of the players tonight that it just wasn’t worth voting on. On top of that, the NFL didn’t get their latest proposal to the NFLPA until very late in the day, Getlin tweets.

10:46am: The NFLPA has informed the player reps that a conference call to discuss the drug policy will be held at 8:00pm central time tonight, reports Breer (via Twitter). According to Breer, that discussion could ultimately result in a vote on the new policy.

10:05am: As we heard last night, the NFLPA’s 32 team player reps are set to vote today on whether or not to accept a new drug policy proposed by the NFL. However, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, that vote isn’t necessarily guaranteed to take place. Florio reports that there’s no tentative agreement in place at this point, and that the NFLPA has asked the league to make a proposal on which the players could decide. If union leadership decides that proposal is worth voting on, then the vote will take place.

As Florio suggests, that “somewhat unorthodox protocol” suggests that the NFLPA’s leadership – including executive director DeMaurice Smith – is facing pressure from players to get something finalized, perhaps because an agreement could mean that several suspended players, such as Josh Gordon and Wes Welker, would have the opportunity to be reinstated. Retroactively evaluating those penalties based on a new drug policy has been one of the key points for a new agreement, and both sides seem to be in agreement on that issue.

However, as Albert Breer of the NFL Network writes, the two sides remain apart on some issues, most notably how to handle DUI arrests. According to Breer, who hears that the DUI issue is “by far” the biggest sticking point, the players are unlikely to approve any proposal which involves immediate suspensions upon a DUI arrest, without due process. A one-game deactivation without pay upon a DUI arrest seems like the most logical compromise.

Still, while the DUI rules need to be ironed out, there is agreement in many other areas, per Breer. A few other terms that could be part of the new agreement are as follows:

An increased threshold for positive marijuana tests.
Offseason positive tests for amphetamines falling under the substance of abuse policy rather than the performance enhancing drug policy.
Immediate implementation of HGH testing.

Latest On Drug Policy Talks

September 8th, 2014 at 7:58pm CST by Luke Adams

7:58pm: The NFLPA will have 32 player reps vote on Tuesday regarding a proposed overhauled drug policy after daylong negotiations, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (Twitter link). Mortensen also reported that if the new agreement gets approved, suspended players such as Josh Gordon and Wes Welker could be reinstated.

4:45pm: Negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy for the league continue to progress, with Albert Breer of the NFL Network reporting that the two sides met in person in New York this afternoon for face-to-face discussions (Twitter link). According to Breer, the in-person meeting is a signal of how talks have advanced, though the policy for DUIs remains a sticking point (Twitter link).

Meanwhile, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report spoke to a union source who said that are three points that are “non-negotiable” for the players in the new policy. According to Cole (all Twitter links), the players want to ensure that there are no suspensions for initial arrests, reasonable standards for positive marijuana tests, and control over appeals for HGH suspensions. On those last two points, the union would like marijuana standards to be roughly in line with most state-employee standards, and want a third party – rather than the commissioner – have final say on HGH decisions.

As for the idea that the league wants to enact suspensions for initial arrests, Cole adds (via Twitter) that even team executives are confused by that, pointing out that charges might be dropped or a player may be proven innocent. Based on what we’ve heard so far, it sounds as if the NFL would like to institute mandatory deactivations, rather than suspensions, for players charged with DUI. That would allow the league to avoid seeing that player on the field immediately following his arrest, but wouldn’t necessarily dock him any pay unless he was later suspended after due process.

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