It appears increasingly unlikely there will be human growth hormone testing in the NFL this season, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
The reason why depends on who you ask. The league promoted the testing as a done deal earlier this year, but the process slowed when NFL Players Association questioned the test's validity. The union even went as far as to accuse the league of "intellectual laziness" for not independently researching the accuracy of the test.
The league -- which beleives the NFLPA is purposely stalling the process -- wants to use the same testing system put in place by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2004.
"We're ready to go, and we're satisfied with the validity of the test," said Adolpho Birch, the official who oversees the league's drug-testing program. "The only thing standing between us and the testing is the NFL Players Association. I can't make them do it."
Birch said the league is waiting on the NFLPA before going forward with the next step. There are no plans for the sides to meet at this time.
"I am hopeful," Birch said of testing this season. "But I can't put a level of confidence on it."
The NFLPA -- and stop us if you've heard this one before -- wants the World Anti-Doping Agency to open their books and show the studies it's done on the accuracy of its testing. The WADA has no plans to honor the request.
"We've hit a wall," NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said. "We're not saying something is wrong with the test. The problem is that we're not being allowed to analyze and can't assess the test ourselves."
Hopefully this all gets worked out, as advanced PED testing makes for a more genuine product on the field. Right now, we can only dream of a day when an agreement is reached and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith declares to the masses, "We dig our tests."
