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Could This Spur An NFL Version Of The Mitchell Report?
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Something Tells Me No One Will Care About This, Even Though They Should
by 100%InjuryRate
>7 days ago

I'm sure you remember when everyone got in a tizzy about the Mitchell Report. It was great times. Who're they going to name? Who can we make "taking it in the butt" jokes about from now until eternity?

It also served a purpose, which was to help clean up the game. Granted, it was sort of half-assed approach, but whatever, it was at least something.

And now we may have something similar for the NFL.

David Jacobs, a convicted steroids dealer from Texas provided documentary evidence to NFL officials on Wednesday that his lawyer said tied several players to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Now, stop and think about that for one second. Do you even care? The answer is probably not as much as you did about baseball players potentially using steroids.

The fact of the matter is that I wouldn't be surprised at all if a majority of the NFL was juicing, in fact I'd be shocked if they weren't.

When Gale Sayers played pro football (1965-1971), there wasn't a single 300-lb. lineman in the game. In 1990, there were 39 players who weighed 300 lbs. or more. Today, there are over 300 guys in the league who tilt the scales at 300 lbs. or more. And not only that, they're faster and stronger than they used to be. And that doesn't just come from eating more.

Shawne Merriman is listed at 6-4, 272-lbs. and supposedly runs the 40 in 4.6. The average linebacker in the NFL right now according to the Elias Sports Bureau weighs 242-lbs. Dick Butkus (1965-1973), one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history and considered an absolute monster in his day, was 6-3, 244-lbs., which would make him an average sized linebacker in today's NFL.

The truth is that everyone who plays in the NFL is a physical freak to some degree, since that's what the job demands. It's always been that way. But, over time, people who play in the NFL have become more than just physical freaks, they've become pharmalogically modified freaks.

Zach Thomas, formerly with the Dolphins and now with Cowboys is, by all accounts, a very small linebacker by NFL standards. He's 5-11, 230 lbs. Meaning he outweighs me by more than 60-lbs. even though we're the same height. But those extra 60-lbs. aren't fat. They're primarily muscle. Needless to say, that's unnatural.

We've seen guys like Merriman, Julius Peppers, Rodney Harrison, and countless other individuals receive suspensions for either steroids or HGH or God only knows what. We've also seen guys like Brian Urlacher morph from a college safety into a 258-lb. linebacker at the pro level. This kind of pharmalogical modification isn't the exception anymore - it's basically the rule.

And even though we see this happening, we don't really care.

So as much as I'd like to think this report could actually spur a Mitchell Report of the NFL to help the league try and tackle what is a rampant league-wide performance-enhancing drug problem, I know it won't happen. And that's primarily because no one - fans, the owners making money, and the players getting paid - will let it happen.

Steroid dealer provides the NFL with Evidence [NY Times]
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108 days ago
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(Edited 05/23/08 12:38PM by RenegadeLG)
I wasn't buying it, but was at least on board until you brought up Zach Thomas?  Seriously?

Did you ever take into account the fact that sports medicine has advanced a hundred times over since the 'old days'?  I'm sure some guys ARE juicing, but 300 pounds has nothing to do with steroids.  Those guys eat like pigs. 8-10,000 calories a day.  They've also busted their ass in the weight room since middle school.

Merriman is a freak and was caught dirty.  But 4.6 isn't a stunning 40 time for somebody his size.  Just because somebody is bigger than you doesn't make them abnormal.  Normal is different than it used to be. This is 2008.

Some guys are using, but not most, and probably not even five percent.  I'm 6'1" and constantly fluctuate between 215 and 240 pounds and never over %11 body fat and I'm not on drugs.  The typical human is bigger than they were in the 60s, it shouldn't surprise you that this has transcended into sports.  Especially with the aforementioned access to mind-bendingly helpful legal supplements and advanced equipment.
 
108 days ago
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The NFL - Where better living through chemistry happens.

 
108 days ago
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(Edited 05/23/08 12:38PM by RenegadeLG)
I wasn't buying it, but was at least on board until you brought up Zach Thomas?  Seriously?

Did you ever take into account the fact that sports medicine has advanced a hundred times over since the 'old days'?  I'm sure some guys ARE juicing, but 300 pounds has nothing to do with steroids.  Those guys eat like pigs. 8-10,000 calories a day.  They've also busted their ass in the weight room since middle school.

Merriman is a freak and was caught dirty.  But 4.6 isn't a stunning 40 time for somebody his size.  Just because somebody is bigger than you doesn't make them abnormal.  Normal is different than it used to be. This is 2008.

Some guys are using, but not most, and probably not even five percent.  I'm 6'1" and constantly fluctuate between 215 and 240 pounds and never over %11 body fat and I'm not on drugs.  The typical human is bigger than they were in the 60s, it shouldn't surprise you that this has transcended into sports.  Especially with the aforementioned access to mind-bendingly helpful legal supplements and advanced equipment.
 
108 days ago
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And be prepared for even bigger athletes down the road.  Guys aren't marrying their high school sweethearts anymore.  They'll keep a bunch on the side but pro athletes are carefully selecting mates.  Large women who are in athletics themselves.  Ensuring a better chance at pro-level spawn.
 
108 days ago
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needless to say, I won't be shocked by any names
 
108 days ago
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Size issues aside, I figure supplements are widespread. Unfortunately, it is almost expected today.
I was 5'11" and 210 lb. RB in high school and wore 28" pants. I was considered huge as a back for that time. One of the kids that played varsity was a 9Th grader. He was 6'3" and weighed in at 280 lb. and he grew to 6'9" and 300 lb. when he played in College. That was 1974 and both of us were bigger than many NFL players at that time. Neither of us juiced. Hell, I wouldn't know what it was back then. Getting juiced was more akin to getting pelted by a bunch of oranges in our minds. Things have changed in sports over the years, one is the natural size and speed of today's players.
Natural selection is playing a huge factor as well. Payton and Eli Manning are the product of this. Their father Archie married another athlete at Ol' Miss. His wife was a student athlete, I want to say she was a tennis player. The fact is if you look close, many of the 2ND generation athletes are coming from these match-ups. Also don't laugh at the thought of marrying the cheer leader either. Many of those girls are as much athletes as anyone else.
 
108 days ago
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of course a lot of people wouldn't care..

1)  NFL is the golden child and can do no wrong.

2) NFL is a violent game where part of the thrill for many people is bigger hits, faster plays and more spectacular feats..   now, people want more HR in baseball, that is true, but again, the NFL can do no wrong.    In the case of the lineman, it goes even further since more than any starting position in baseball, they are semi-anonymous (yes, they may be able to recall their names if pressed but..).

3)  the NFL (and now MMA to some degree) fill a need that still exists but is not feed enough to be satisfied so it builds..   the Romans understood it..  we want to see men who are very good or very big get together and go to fake battle with each other and for there to be pain and blood.  and we want to watch from a safe distance and cheer.    I miss the old days of UFC when there were no weight classes and you could see a 370 lb. man fight a 170 lb. submission artist.   I miss seeing the sumo wrestlers get in the ring and pummeled.  Movies provide that to some degree, but not enough but at some level we realize it is a movie and the need is for real people to get hurt while we watch and cheer.     by the way, it is not just men who cheered, either.

so no, to some degree, I think some people would not care if they found out a bunch of players were juicing in the NFL.
 
108 days ago
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(Edited 05/22/08 2:04PM by badsam1956)
oooPPPPs!!!!
 
108 days ago
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isucubs wrote:
of course a lot of people wouldn't care..

1)  NFL is the golden child and can do no wrong.

2) NFL is a violent game where part of the thrill for many people is bigger hits, faster plays and more spectacular feats..   now, people want more HR in baseball, that is true, but again, the NFL can do no wrong.    In the case of the lineman, it goes even further since more than any starting position in baseball, they are semi-anonymous (yes, they may be able to recall their names if pressed but..).

3)  the NFL (and now MMA to some degree) fill a need that still exists but is not feed enough to be satisfied so it builds..   the Romans understood it..  we want to see men who are very good or very big get together and go to fake battle with each other and for there to be pain and blood.  and we want to watch from a safe distance and cheer.    I miss the old days of UFC when there were no weight classes and you could see a 370 lb. man fight a 170 lb. submission artist.   I miss seeing the sumo wrestlers get in the ring and pummeled.  Movies provide that to some degree, but not enough but at some level we realize it is a movie and the need is for real people to get hurt while we watch and cheer.     by the way, it is not just men who cheered, either.

so no, to some degree, I think some people would not care if they found out a bunch of players were juicing in the NFL.
Football and MMA address a fundamental need within us humans. The need for combat. Psychologist would argue that man needs zero violence, but I disagree. Look at our history and the types of sports we play. Unless the game is tiddly winks their is some violent aspect to it. Cheese is training in battle tactics, checkers is much the same, in baseball we smack a ball with a club and do our best to kill the baseman guarding the bases. Please, don't get me started on football or the fighting sports, as I could go on about those all day.
 
108 days ago
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(Edited 05/22/08 2:24PM by Boski93)
RenegadeLG wrote:
And be prepared for even bigger athletes down the road.  Guys aren't marrying their high school sweethearts anymore.  They'll keep a bunch on the side but pro athletes are carefully selecting mates.  Large women who are in athletics themselves.  Ensuring a better chance at pro-level spawn.

I agree that athlete's are more "freakish" today because the advancements in sports medicine, sports nutrition and sports training. Hell if I had the availability to the stuff I take today (and all I do is just the GNC stuff) I might actually seen the playing field.

 

I do think though the NFL and the players still have to work on the issue of PED's and what should be allowed and not allowed. The can not go the MLB route. Make things as level and transparent as possible, while also having something that will look out for players health.

I know one of the big issues is the use of HGH. Which I at first felt was an unfair advantage but after reading an article in ESPN the Rag a while back that talked about the case for allowing HGH, " I have kind of change my position.

 

Lastly, does my comment make any sense?

 
108 days ago
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OK..I have two issues with this post.

 

1.)  The Mitchell Report did absolutely nothing to "clean up" baseball.  It clearly names players who were alledgedly using performance enhancing drugs in MLB prior to any kind of testing or rules stating that it was not allowed.  The Mitchell Report effectively wasted tax payer money and ruined the reputation of good ball players who may never be able to get in to the hall of fame now.  In the case of Roger Clemens, the Mitchell Report has brought out stories and accusations that he juiced up his wife for a photo shoot and that he slept with a 15 year old girl while he was married.  C'Mon guys.  I go to the park to watch guys like Clemens, Smoltz, Maddux and Schilling throw a ball at a guy like Bonds (preferably his head), Rose, Ripken and Griffey to see if they can hit it.  The Mitchell Report in my mind has tarnished that past time for me.  I don't care what those guys do in their spare time and that some jacka$$ in Washington thinks they should not be a role model for my kids.....well if they hadn't dug into the personal lives of all these ball players we still wouldn't know.  They made it illegal and they stopped doing it which was obvious by the numbers that many of them put up in the years following the the ban on PED's.  We would still be going to the games and watching the same matchups hoping that Barry Bonds would eventually stop being an a$$hole and actually talk to the media.  Of course, I hate the fact that they cheated baseball, but honestly how many of the guys in the Mitchell Report would you have fingered for PED's prior to reading the names??

 

2.)  I have to agree with the posts here that talk about kids today being bigger and better for some reason.  In my hometown of just left of middle of nowhere, TX I have noticed that the kids are bigger, faster and stronger than they were when I was in school.  My two oldest boys are now starting to get into the sports world and I think I am noticing part of what is going on these days.  When I was a kid (1970's), they didn't play organized tackle football until you were 12 years old.  You played for two years and then played for the middles school team.  Now they start playing at 7 and have three or four different weight and age groups to play in.  Not only that, but the high school and college coaches are holding summer camps and mini-camps to teach the players how to eat, run, lift weights and start working on techniques.  They are also doing this in baseball.  I think it is great...It is expensive as all get out, but my boys are much better at 9 and 11 than I was at that age and I was fortunate enough to play baseball and football at the college level.  And in disagreement with the statements about marrying athletes that is not really the only reason.  My wife was a slacker and lazy dope smokin' fine thang that was in the band.

 
108 days ago
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Natural selection? Good nutrition? Early training? You folks are in fantasy land if you think those are the main reasons for the current physical specimens in the NFL (and NCAA division I for that matter). Natural selection, optimal mating cannot account for such dramatic changes in only 50 years. Over-eating results in a circle, not an upside down triangle. These guys look the way they do for exactly the same reasons that Arnold Schwarzenegger and all the Mr Universe wannabes look the way they do: intensive steroid doping and weight training.
 
108 days ago
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CalBoomer wrote:
Natural selection? Good nutrition? Early training? You folks are in fantasy land if you think those are the main reasons for the current physical specimens in the NFL (and NCAA division I for that matter). Natural selection, optimal mating cannot account for such dramatic changes in only 50 years. Over-eating results in a circle, not an upside down triangle. These guys look the way they do for exactly the same reasons that Arnold Schwarzenegger and all the Mr Universe wannabes look the way they do: intensive steroid doping and weight training.
Nobody over 300 pounds in the NFL is ripped.  They all have guts.
 
108 days ago
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CalBoomer wrote:
Natural selection? Good nutrition? Early training? You folks are in fantasy land if you think those are the main reasons for the current physical specimens in the NFL (and NCAA division I for that matter). Natural selection, optimal mating cannot account for such dramatic changes in only 50 years. Over-eating results in a circle, not an upside down triangle. These guys look the way they do for exactly the same reasons that Arnold Schwarzenegger and all the Mr Universe wannabes look the way they do: intensive steroid doping and weight training.

Not a bad start, but where is the reasoning and argument to convince me?  That comment is like saying that Mickey Mouse would be a better candidate for US President in 2008 than the three front running candidates we have now without giving you any reasons to beleive it yourself.

 

Well maybe it's not the same.  That one is pretty beleivable.

 
108 days ago
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