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.
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05-11-2010, 10:06 AM
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