The players only get paid during the regular season. They don't get paid until week 1 of the regular season.

SO why would the union let them get tested during the "off-season"? They are NOT being paid

@brownrebel said:

Look, there are corporations worth significantly more than the nfl that require accountability from employees. The nfl is no different. like it or not, joe is an nfl employee, and, like it or not, adderall is a banned substance. I am not happy about this either, but, to quote my dad, "dem's da ropes."

People that do not like these sorts of rules start their own businesses (me for instance) but until joe starts the haden football league he is held to the same standard as everyone else. Would it be ok in your eyes for the entire ravens d to take peds and get away with it while nobody else could?

That's not what's going on already?? hmmm....

@poeticg said:

So what are you saying exactly? Tea in China has nothing to do with this. This isn't Walmart or Target we're talking about. We're talking about an NFL "job" not Walmart or the library. We're talking mega money, not sweat shop wages in America. Not the cost of living of an ordinary consumer slave, an NFL Elite glamorous life. You don't expect these guys to get high? What is any different than getting IVs of whatever Peterson got in the lockeroom at halftime years ago. What do you expect of these "guys"? Do you expect them to walk on water? Does Target expect me to walk on water for minimum wages>? WTF are you talking about?!?!!

Look, there are corporations worth significantly more than the nfl that require accountability from employees. The nfl is no different. like it or not, joe is an nfl employee, and, like it or not, adderall is a banned substance. I am not happy about this either, but, to quote my dad, "dem's da ropes."

People that do not like these sorts of rules start their own businesses (me for instance) but until joe starts the haden football league he is held to the same standard as everyone else. Would it be ok in your eyes for the entire ravens d to take peds and get away with it while nobody else could?

@poeticg said:

No! Not Joe Haden... I named my dog after him and Otto Graham and Joe Thomas...

It sucks that he gets banned from the ProBowl... that's not right. It's not right.

Harrison almost killed Colt, Momass and Cribbs in the same season and he gets a slap on the wrist... was he able to be eligible for the Probowl? If so that's not right either.

I think the City of Cleveland shoud try and fight to keep Haden eligible if he makes it through the rest of the season without incident. He's a prominent figure in Cleveland and this is just another slap in the face.

Haden's life is his own and he should be free to do whatever he wishes with his time, money, and body- anyway he sees fit, unless he's harming another human being(or other advanced lifeform), let him be, hell, let us all be.

The one exception is if he is using something that's giving him an advantage on the field. That wouldn't be fair, we wouldn't want that to happen to us from another player. When you play this game you have to play it straight up, man on man...

It's obvious that some players are and have been taking PEDs for a long time now, probably since the beginning of the league. So players are just looked past because of who they are and what they do for their cities.

That's all I'm gonna say for now, on that.

It hurts to lose Haden right now. Our Defense really shined the other night. Made me a believer. They are so close too...

Put the next guy in there, "but those are big shoes to fill little fella". Damn, I'm gonna miss Haden. He may be my favorite player.

... On the bright side though, we should be getting Haden and Taylor, two first round draft picks, back around the same time... Richardson should be hitting his stride by then as well... just in time for the Playoff push...

No, when you are someone's employee, ie, you receive a check from them for services rendered, you abide by theie rules.

The nfl, mlb, nba, etc are no different from target, wal mart, or piggly wiggly.

It sucks that he gets banned from the ProBowl... that's not right. It's not right.

Harrison almost killed Colt, Momass and Cribbs in the same season and he gets a slap on the wrist... was he able to be eligible for the Probowl? If so that's not right either.

I think the City of Cleveland shoud try and fight to keep Haden eligible if he makes it through the rest of the season without incident. He's a prominent figure in Cleveland and this is just another slap in the face.

Haden's life is his own and he should be free to do whatever he wishes with his time, money, and body- anyway he sees fit, unless he's harming another human being(or other advanced lifeform), let him be, hell, let us all be.

The one exception is if he is using something that's giving him an advantage on the field. That wouldn't be fair, we wouldn't want that to happen to us from another player. When you play this game you have to play it straight up, man on man...

It's obvious that some players are and have been taking PEDs for a long time now, probably since the beginning of the league. So players are just looked past because of who they are and what they do for their cities.

That's all I'm gonna say for now, on that.

It hurts to lose Haden right now. Our Defense really shined the other night. Made me a believer. They are so close too...

Put the next guy in there, "but those are big shoes to fill little fella". Damn, I'm gonna miss Haden. He may be my favorite player.

... On the bright side though, we should be getting Haden and Taylor, two first round draft picks, back around the same time... Richardson should be hitting his stride by then as well... just in time for the Playoff push...

The NFL needs to allow players to keep involved with the team, not just tell them,"Goodbye, see ya in 4 weeks"

@crocodiledilemma said:

What was he thinking?

Will he get any financial penalty from Cleveland for missing games? If not I think that would be in order.

He loses 4 game checks totalling around $1.4 million. And he's not allowed to be in the pro-bowl. I don't know if he has a bonus clause in his contract for the pro-bowl selection.

@d-bone said:

It definitely sucks, but it sucks even more that this happened in the first place. Every single NFL player knows, or rather should know, what drugs are on the league's banned list.............It's all part of being a "Pro".

Exactly. Even if it's a "prescription" drug- you had better check with the league office before you take any of it. Million dollar mistake Joe. Though for all the good stuff the guy does around town, I have to believe it was an ignorant mistake, and not in the I'm using this as a PED.

Obviously, Joe didn't have the prescription.

@wrrebel said:

Dude it was adderoll and he was in Vegas BFD

guess it was a big deal since he violated policy and got suspended, thereby hurting his team.

@hunt-daddy said:

The only positive out of this (on a personal level), and this is just myself trying to feel good about something after the last 25 hours of misery, is that I have Victor Cruz and Torrey Smith on my fantasy team. Maybe I can get some big games out of them.

The best positive thing is that we will now see how Buster Skrine and Trevin Wade will perform under pressure. Hopefully these young guys prove they can handle it.

Why can't he just do coke like a normal person.

Mike

He's under contract to play football and if his off the field actions are altering the contract (now eligible for 4 less games than agreed upon) he should be fined, in my opinion.

If you were hired to work 30 days but you failed a piss test and got suspended for a week, would you expect to get paid for your week off?

Will he get any financial penalty from Cleveland for missing games? If not I think that would be in order.