In his blog at ESPN.com, Mike Sando believes it can be assumed that Pead did not fail a drug test because his suspension was only for one week. That's consistent with what I've seen about Rokevious Watkins' situation; he got a one-week penalty but didn't fail a test. It's not consistent with the report I referenced last week regarding Tamba Hali's 2012 one-week suspension, but in hindsight, that report was probably misworded when it said Hali "fail[ed] the NFL's substance test." More than likely Sando's the one who's right.
We get some actual further explanation from Jeff Fisher himself in a Fox Sports Midwest interview:
It [Pead's suspension] doesn't come as a surprise. We have been aware of the situation since last summer. We — in a lot of ways — addressed it last summer when the issue took place, knowing this would probably the result. This thing has taken a long time. In a lot of ways, Isaiah has put this behind him. He's learned from his choices, and I don't expect it to happen again.
Last summer? That sounds every bit like a confirmation of my (and most's) original guess that Pead probably got arrested for possession of a controlled substance, or possibly a DUI/DWI violation. The court date for the case probably got a football-friendly push on the calendar until after the season.
Let's hope Pead's done screwing up now. As for Watkins, Fisher continues to defend him pretty vigorously, but really, if he got suspended for something innocent like an administrative screwup, taking the wrong cold medication, or missing a drug test for an entirely legitimate reason, Watkins needs to put the details out there. Until he does, we almost have to assume some kind of illegality, or the case of a missed test, stupidity, was involved.
Somebody's going to have to start keeping a list of these deals, along the lines of the injured reserve, given the impact they're posing to the team:
* I assume, but would have to confirm, that Pead and Watkins are now "in the NFL's program," which means another "substances of abuse" offense will get either one a 4-week suspension, one strike away from a one-year suspension.
* Trumaine Johnson could get fined by the league for his off-season arrest, but since he plead guilty to reckless driving and refusing a breath test, not DUI, I don't believe the "substances of abuse" policy will apply to him. I don't believe he's in the program. To be confirmed.
* Robert Quinn was arrested for DWI last July; if that case has been resolved, it hasn't been reported anywhere. If he's found guilty of that, my assumption is that he'd get strike one and be entered into the program.
I'm not aware of any other Rams in the same boat, and, at the risk of getting all pillar-y on everybody, would prefer this list be kept very short.
-$-
No comments:
Post a Comment