NFL HGH Use Increasing According To Anonymous Player
By Mike Dyce
Apr 24, 2013; New York, NY, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks at the NFL Play 60 Youth Football Festival at Chelsea Waterside Park. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
Human growth hormone or, HGH, is banned by the NFL. And while it is a banned substance, there is no test in place for it and it is entirely up to the players to be honest. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tyler Dunne quoted an unnamed NFC starter saying that HGH use is rampant in the NFL.
“It’s like clockwork nowadays,” the anonymous player told Dunne. “Not tested and it’s easy to get. Nowadays, dude? In 2013? [Expletive] yeah. I’m just being real.”
The player gave an estimate of 10-15 players using HGH per team in the NFL.
And while we don’t know if this anonymous player uses HGH or not, he certainly doesn’t have a problem with players using it.
“I say, just let guys do it,” he said. “This is our career. We’re putting on for fans. I say . . . HGH isn’t anything. I say, do it. . . . You’re going to get hit hard regardless whether you’re clean or not clean. It’s just a matter of how hard you get hit. I don’t care who’s taking it. A hit is a hit.”
Former Dallas Cowboys safety Darren Woodson said the offseason was steroid season when we was playing. He thinks that the trend would make the natural transition from steroids to HGH and that the pressure and money involved almost force players to use HGH. Undrafted free agents trying to make the team, veterans trying to hang on.
“You know it’s there,” Woodson said. “In the NFL, when you talk about the pace, the injuries and the recovery time and the short week, how important every game is, week to week, it’s more than baseball, basketball or any other sport. There are 16 games. You have to get back on that field in a hurry.
“It’s not like you can miss Wednesday’s practice when you’re putting a game plan in. You need to be out there.”
The average NFL career last 3 seasons. And unlike other sports there are no leagues overseas or minor leagues. There is Canadian Football and Arena Football. And the anonymous player echoes what Woodson had to say.
“There’s just so much pressure,” the player said, “so much you have to do and so much on your body. So why wouldn’t you want to take care of that?”