Cushing out 4 games for Steroids
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5172060

Uh-oh.

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b42Xb


I wonder if Darryl Sharpton can play the SAM? I bet Jamar Chaney could. ;)

Bob McNair was complaining about the lack of national attention for his Texans. I'm thinking he's now gonna get some media, though obviously not the way he probably had in mind.
All the rumors about Cushing in this area - turns out there was fire with all of that smoke. Obviously his entire rookie season with the awards and all is tarnished by this disclosure.

A couple of things, first being no excuses. Whether he took steroids or something on the league's banned list is not clear, many jump to the conclusion that he took steroids. Could be but either way he is tarnished and it hurts the team. Too bad he did not play for the Vikings where the rules seem to not apply. I guess Bentley will take over at Sam and wouldn't you know we have a tough first 4 games. This is great news.:rolleyes:

I suppose Diles could play the SAM and Marcus Freeman could play the WILL. At least, that's a combo I'd be wanting to see.

Looking at Cushing, I merely assumed he was taking HGH or some other fancy supplement that wouldn't be detected by the steroids test. I thought all of these questions would have been answered before drafting Cushing. That's why I was leaning towards Clay Mathews over Cushing - just seemed like a more legitimate player who didn't use performance enhancing drugs.

We all jumped on the Cushing bandwagon once he started playing well. It just seems out of sequence that we have learned about this issue at this juncture. Did he start AFTER we drafted him? Was it after the regular season?

Tut, I won't say that taking Matthews would have been a poor idea, but not for this reasoning though. Matthews (and Cushing) had the rumors of a failed steriod test at the Combine (both were never confirmed). Matthews sorta came out of nowhere for USC to becoming such a highly sought after prospect; Cushing was more legit in that he was the multi-year starter as I recall.


I'm sure this news probably comes as no surprise, sadly, to A LOT of people. And if it was a surprise to the Texans, then shame on them. I think more than anything the team is going to miss his gameday attitude. DeMeco, Pollard, and yes even you Mario are going to need to be loud and strong from the first snap in Week 1. This first game against the Colts, at home, is so crucial to the team this year.

We will never know what he took or why. For all we know, it could have been something that is on the banned list that he took trying to heal up. Let's not make assumptions.

Whatever it is, this really hurts the team.

One thing I dont like is cheaters..... Especially on my fav team. Also, Diles will replace Cushing and Adibi will replace Diles.

Stupid...stupid....stupid....stupid....STUPID!

I had reservations about Cushing from the moment he was drafted, as I would have had for Matthews because I just don't think a team should use such a high pick on a 4-3 LB. And since everyone knew of the rumors about both Cushing & Matthews juicing, I assumed the Texans would easily ascertain if they were for real or not ? Guess not though, because it now appears Rick Smith & crew fumbled the ball badly on checking out this guy.
So is our highest expectation at this point for Cushing that he can just stay on the field and play in a reasonably competant manner, or maybe even just legitimately win the starting SAM job ? I mean without the dope, this guy could be very, very average.

I agree. The concern shouldn't be for the four games he'll miss but what sort of player we'll see when he comes back. Maybe he'll be happy with his fat contract and just coast through the rest of it like he put one over on the NFL.
I hope not but I could see it happening.

Incredibly stupid decision by Cushing.

I also think it is classic revisionist history from everyone saying they had 2nd thoughts on drafting him. I had 2nd thoughts too, but they were about whether he could play. Everyone who had those doubts has been proven wrong. It's sad to try to rewrite that missed call now in the light of this news.

As for whether he can play going forward, who knows. Plenty of guys have been popped for PEDs in the NFL and then played at the same level after without ever testing positive again. Whether they stopped juicing or just got better about the timing/what they were taking, I can't say.

Either way, I'll wait to judge until we see him play again. For one thing I know he made a ton of very instinctual plays all over the field and showed a great football mind that had nothing to do with steroids.

For the Texans' sake, I hope the same guy is on the field for games 5-16 as was on the field last year.

I don't think Cushing is stupid enough to take steroids in the PRO's, I'm of the thinking it was another banned substance like a nutritional supplement or a diuretic of some kind, so until we know further, I'm gonna withhold judgment. Knowing Cushing, he'll probably release a statement where he outlines what he ingested.

As for hindsight, I still think Cushing was the best choice for us last year at our selection as he assimilated into the SAM LB so effortlessly. As someone mentioned earlier, I too would have preferred Jamar Chaney, since I feel he can play all three positions respectably. I thought the Sharpton pick was a reach for a supposed ST's player, but I guess we'll all have to wait and see. There is going to be some serious competition in training camp this year for the LB's and DB's.

Eh, well, I think there's not much anybody can do at this point. I think over time, fans might probably get an idea on exactly what he tested positive for.....

The guy is such a "Spartan" in his eating and training you have to wonder how much he was effected by whatever it was that was in his system.... I guess we'll find out...

I suppose the silver lining is that now he has a better shot at remaining 100% healthy for 12 games instead of 16......

I fail to see how we can even hope for that guy since obviously Cushing himself must have thought he couldn't be him without the dope ?

We can hope for that guy pretty easily.

First, we have no idea what he tested positive for. Second, we have no idea why he took it. Injury recovery is the most common reason guys take steroids in the current pro sports world. It is still clearly cheating, but slightly less on the performance enhancing side. Third, we don't know when he took it and when he didn't.

The bottom line is like I said in my other post. MANY football players get caught using steroids and then play at the same level without ever recording a 2nd positive test. There is not a history of NFL PED busts that would suggest a guy turns into a shell of himself after a positive test. Most continue on with little change.

Texans linebacker Brian Cushing issued a statement Saturday about his four-game suspension imposed by the NFL for a violation of its drug policy.

The statement, issued through his agent Tom Condon, reads:
"I was substance-tested randomly by the NFL during the 2009 season. The results of those tests indicated the presence of a non-steroidal banned substance. The League acted to suspend me based on those results, which I challenged in my appeal of the suspension. I believe we presented compelling evidence during the appeal process to challenge the test results, and I disagree with and am disappointed by the suspension. Bound by the decision of the League, I regret the situation it presents to the Texans’ organization, my teammates, and our fans. My dedication to a championship season in 2010 continues undeterred."
Cushing will miss games against Indianapolis, Washington, Dallas and Oakland.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/6996420.html

My guess: they caught him using a masking agent.

Actually, I think a lot of NFL players use steroids. Based on comments I'm seeing on blogs, I must be in the minority.

Cushing doesn't strike me as someone who knows the word "undeterred", much less capable of using it in a sentence. I'm guessing an agent wrote this for him.

That was some funny shit......

Ya know, as sad as it is, I am not really pissed he was a juicer, I mean really, is anyone THAT surprised by this? I am pissed because we are going to lose him for 4 freaking games.....Indy and Dallas included in that bunch. Personally, I don't buy into the whole role model crap. These dudes bash each other for our entertainment, and are paid EXTREMELY well for doing so. Whatever they do with thier bodies is their business, not mine. Just don't get caught!

Side note - Shawn Merriman (sp) was in the same boat as Cush, busted during his rookie year, and he has turned out OK. My hope is he can find something that is legal to keep that roid rage going.

This just plain sucks. He was the playmaker for the Texans defense. Here's to hoping the Texans find a way to perform like they did late last year without him.

Disagree... Merriman hasn't been the same player since he got popped and the Chargers were shopping him around this offseason. Was his fall off/fall out because of the roids or because he's a jerk?? I don't know for sure, but there was definitely a drop-off in performance after the suspension. The Merriman of today is still probably better than a lot of the LBs in the league, but he's nowhere close to what he used to be.

No where near where he used to be, but better than most LB's in the league......ok, I'll take that.

Julius Peppers is another that got popped during his rookie year, and he turned out pretty decent too.

Color me optimistic, but I am hopeful that Cush will be that guy we used to know.

Or maybe it was because of knee surgury? But lets not let facts get in the way

So you know for a FACT it was ONLY because of the knee and had absolutely NOTHING to do with him getting off the roids? I'm sure the knee was a factor, but it might not be the ONLY factor. You don't know for sure. I highly doubt it was because of the knee that the Chargers wanted to ship him off. Like I said, it may be he's jerk, it may be the roids, it may be something else... My comment was we don't for sure the cause, but there was a drop-off and he's not the same player he was since he got popped for the roids. Whether it was the roids, knee or whatever, we don't know for sure. We don't know in Merriman's case and we won't know in Cushing's case either until he comes back and plays for awhile absolutely clean.

According to profootballtalk.com, Cushing's failed test was in September -

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...-in-september/

So the NFL knew back then and surely informed the Texans & Cushing of the those results at that time. And he plays all year and wins the DROY & is selected to the PB in part by the players vote. I'd say its gonna be a long time before he gets that vote from the players (or fans) again.
The system is obviously screwed up - punishment should be swift, not deferred.

I am not 100% on this, but I believe the rules are a player is required to test regularly after the first pop for any substance and only a second positive test gets them immediate punishment.

No... The FACT is that he did get injured during the 2007 season and missed nearly all of the 2008 season. He's played a whole 2 seasons since being suspended for steriods. One coming off a major knee surgury and the other directly following the suspension which he had 12.5 sacks in 15 games. I wouldn't exactly call that a drop in production. Did you expect teams to not gameplan against him? Did you expect him to average 17 sacks in 12 games?

I won't defend Cushing's positive test, he says (according to Adam Schefter) it was a blood thinner but if it is against the rules it's wrong. Now what that does I don't know, but he did test positive way back in September. What seems ridiculous to me is the reaction, in particular by the AP, self aggrandizing MMA wannabes who report on football on the side, and internet "journalists". They will now re-vote on the AP DROY and All-Pro for outside linebackers. This conclusion reached after one weekend of evidence gathering. Will they retroactively vote on Merriman's award? How about Peppers? I could care less about the award itself, but at least get all the facts and then fine if you think after that he was wrongly awarded then strip him and give it to the runner-up, but it makes no sense to me to have him remain a candidate and re-vote. If this guy is clean, and I hope he is, he will have one massive chip on his shoulder for the rest of his career. But hey he did 'roids, I read it on the internet.

And as a league we should celebrate rapists, witnesses to double murder who won't "snitch", players who assault women, and hit people with their cars, but if you are popped for anything at all we don't need the facts or particulars you are radioactive. At this rate LT should make the NFL's 100th anniversary team alongside OJ. Perhaps that is a bit much but this whole thing is being blown out all reasonable proportion it seems to me.

That's how it is for recreational drugs, which is a separate program than the one for performance enhancers. For juicers the first positive test gets four games, the second is eight, etc.

People don't like cheaters. If Cushing cheated (like it appears) then people aren't going to like it. The number of free passes given to felons has nothing to do with it and cannot be used as an excuse for Cushing.

As for evidence gathering and waiting for the facts, he failed the test in September, prepared and gave his appeal, and was denied by the people who considered all of the evidence and his appeal.

So while I am not looking to crucify the guy, don't try to turn him into a martyr for a clear act of cheating.

Well I never excused Cushing and certainly did not call him a martyr. It ticks me off he took something at some point and got popped for it. I don't like cheaters either don't get me started about McGuire Bonds Sosa. Cushing's penalty is a 4 game suspension, fine. My problem is not with his suspension, though the league should consider a way to speed up the process, I admit we are not privy to the exact nature of the testing and appeals process but getting suspended a year after testing positive seems weird. What I don't like is what the AP, feeling pressured I suppose, is doing at this point. If you feel justified take the award away, after having waited a little more than a weekend to check things out, and give it to the runner up (Byrd in this case).

Again my problem is not with the league per se it's more with some of who cover it and sing the praises of many players who really are less than honorable citizens (to put it kindly) and the rush to judgment and the illogical re-vote in this case. I can't see how Cushing wins a second vote but how does it make any sense to have him remain a candidate if they think he is a cheater?

4 sacks in 14 games last year. Maybe I should lower my expectations a bit from the 17 sack average... I'm not sure what you don't understand about my comment that it could have been injuries, getting off the roids, Tila Tequila not giving it up, gameplanning or all of the above, but that's one lousy year for a past Pro Bowler and DROY and certainly looks like a drop off in production to me. And like I said, teams weren't exactly jumping at the opportunity to aquire a Pro Bowl LB. I think we would have at least heard some rumors of teams being interested even if SD's asking price was way too high. Anyway, if Cushing comes back and has that sort of production, what do you think people will blame? Gameplanning? I'm obviously hoping the kid is (or gets) clean and comes back as productive as he was. Time will tell.

It's my understand that Julius Peppers won the DROY award even though the voters knew he was dirty during his rookie season. OK then will Cushing get the same support for his revote this year ? I seriously doubt it, though there might be more votes for him than we'd expect ?
It was 7 or 8 years ago when Peppers received the award, and attitudes have changed substantially since then. Besides the league and probably also the media don't like the idea of Congress getting into this, which is of course a real possibility in these times.
But bottom line is I'm not optimistic about the player we get back on the field in October and thereafter. You know he'll be clean then or he's out for a whole season from what I understand, and that's just too much to risk ?
And I gotta think he wouldn't have put himself in such peril where he had so much to lose if he didn't have a really important reason to use the dope ?

If it is true that he tested positive in September, I think it is reasonable to assume that he was not taking any banned substances for the remainder of the season. For one, it would be career suicide which surely he understood. Second, while I'm not positive, I think the amount of testing goes up after a positive result so I would assume the league was testing him more frequently throughout the rest of the season. If so, this is further proof that the player we all saw and loved from October through December was likely clean at that time. Doesn't excuse what he did but does give me some confidence that when a "clean" Cushing comes back in October, he won't have much drop off in production.

That's the only good news I can squeeze out of this. The September positive raises another question though. He tested positive basically his first month with the team. Everyone knew the rumors about Cushing coming out. I'm really surprised the Texans didn't take a very hands-on approach to him and his training regiment to get to know what he was doing and to make sure everything he did complied with the regs. However, it is clear that one of two things happened. Either the Texans didn't monitor his program and grill him about what he was taking or they did and Cushing lied. Neither is very comforting.

Evidently he popped for HCG, evidently reported by Shefter on ESPN. Commonly used at the end of steroid cycles. I’m no doctor but from what I have heard and researched, there is no real reason for him to have taken it.

As for the AP revote on DROY and All Pro. I am fine with it. Peppers, Merriman, and Williams were all voted in by the AP after popping. The difference is that the voters knew about it prior to voting and decided that the drugs weren’t enough of a factor to not vote on them. With Cush, none of the voters knew prior to the vote. As his DROY was almost unanimous, I have a feeling he will retain the DROY and All Pro, just not by the same margin.

Since he popped in September and stayed clean the rest of the season, and yes the NFL ramps up their testing on players who have popped, I have no doubt that he will come back this year and play just as hard and just as well as he did in October-December.

It is kind of sad that people are now shouting their "vindication" about taking Cush over Mathews or anyone else. In December all of these "vindicated" people were as excited as anyone else. The young man made horrible decision, I am disappointed in him but I am not going to write the guy off. I did plenty of stupid things when I was his age, the question is whether or not he learned from this.
It does suck that we are losing this key defensive piece, but on the bright side we will get to see how good our depth is. That is the difference between good teams and great teams, depth. Great teams can pull from their bench and hardly miss a beat. It does not matter if he is out for injury or suspension, we would still be going to the bench. These first four games will be an indicator of how far this team really has come under Kubiak and Smith, as well as an indicator of how good a DC Bush is.

called it.

and you guys pissed all over me.

The most interesting thing to me is that Cushing: 1. Apparently took steroids
and 2. The NFL did not detect the steroids because they were not in his system at detectible levels WHEN HE TOOK THE TEST.

As I have written previously, I think a very healthy percentage of NFL players have taken either steroids or HGH during their pro careers. Cushing's mistake was probably being too agressive in his regimen. Which I guess is not surprising, because his whole approach to his diet, etc. is very agressive. So is his play on the field.

From Adam Schefter: (Last line is pretty interesting)

MORE DETAILS IN CUSHING CASE
A source familiar with the Brian Cushing case has revealed more details to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. A positive test occurred in early September, and Cushing tested negative for any substance twice before he was ever alerted that he had initially tested positive (both within days of the initial positive test). And after being alerted of the positive test Brian was tested randomly numerous times throughout the season and never tested positive. In addition, the test was positive for slightly elevated levels of hCG (a non-steroidal substance - hCG is a hormone produced naturally by the body). The level that he tested positive for was so low that it would not have been considered a "positive" test even a year ago.