When a player is suspended for violating the steroids policy, it’s not out of the ordinary for his team to issue a statement. It is unusual, however, for an NFL insider who doubles as a mixed martial arts personal trainer to offer up his two cents.
But as FOX’s Jay Glazer spends more and more time with more and more players in the offseason, it makes sense for him to have a reaction when one of his MMA pupils gets popped for cheating.
“I can’t pass judgment until after I talk to Brian,” Glazer said. “I really hope the allegations aren’t true. My partner Randy Couture and I -- and the program we created -- are all about outworking everybody else in the league, not taking shortcuts. I can tell you this in my time working with Brian -- I loved it. We really bonded. I expect to hear from Brian tonight.”
The “allegations” seem to be true. Cushing has been suspended four games for violating the steroids policy. Per the reports, he has exercised his appeal rights, and the appeal has failed.
The only unknown is the identity of the substance found in his system. But the problem with the confidentiality of the steroids policy is that Cushing or anyone else who tests positive can claim that he took a tainted supplement or otherwise accidentally ingested one of the many non-steroids that appear on the list of banned substances, even if the player actually was knowingly and intentionally using steroids.
So if/when Glazer gets in touch with Cushing, nothing stops Cushing from claiming that he didn’t actually take steroids, even if he really did.
