Top 5 Worst Excuses Athletes Used For Positive Tests

The NBA has recently suspended Memphis Grizzles guard OJ Mayo for 10 games following a positive test result.  Apparently Mayo purchased an energy drink from a gas station that contained the banned substance, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). In the wake of OJ Mayo’s excuse for his positive drug test last week I decided to review some of the worst excuses athletes have given for positive test results.

5) Richard Gasquet- Tennis Player

Was busted for a positive cocaine test prior to the French Open in 2009.  His excuse was that he accidentally ingested cocaine while kissing a woman he met at a nightclub.

4) Ross Rebagliati- Snowboarder

Competed in the Nagano Olympics in 1998.  He tested positive for THC, the chemical in marijuana.  His excuse was that the positive test came from second-hand smoke he consumed while partying with buddies prior to the Olympics.  

3) Justin Gatlin- Sprinting

The sprinter tested positive for high levels of testosterone which he and his coach, Trevor Graham blamed on a masseuse.  They said that during a message the masseuse rubbed Gatlin’s legs with tainted cream.

2) Floyd Landis- Cyclist

Won the 2006 Tour de France. He later tested positive for a synthetic testosterone and spent several years making up excuses to clear his name.  One of his excuses was that his positive result was from binge drinking the night before.

 

1) Brian Cushing- Football Player

Houston Texans linebacker was suspended this past season by the NFL for four games because of a positive test for the female fertility drug HCG.  Athletes often use HCG to boost their testosterone levels after using steroids.  Cushing said his positive test was from "Overtrained athlete syndrome" which results from athletes training intensely for a long period and then stopping which provides the possibility of testosterone imbalance.

Athletes are always trying to get a leg up on their competition and with performance enhancing supplements becoming a bigger part of sports training this list will continue to grow.

How can you measure toughness?

In the wake of the Chicago Bears loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Jay Cutler has been heavily criticized by media as well as past and present players for quitting on his team. The Bears quarterback suffered a knee injury in the first half which eventually lead to him being pulled in the third quarter of Sunday’s NFC championship game by head coach Lovie Smith.

After Cutler’s first series in the third quarter it was pretty apparent that he had a significant injury that limited his accuracy and mobility. Cutler did not look sharp prior to his injury, completing 6 passes for 80 yards. Cutler’s benching and demeanor on the sidelines lead to several players questioning Cutler’s toughness via Twitter. Maurice Jones-Drew, running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars was one of the more vocal players criticizing Cutler on Sunday. Jones-Drew tweeted “"Hey I think the Urban Meyer rule is effect right now... When the going gets tough........QUIT." He later went on to tweet “"finish the game on a hurt knee... I played the whole season on one." For those who don’t remember Jones-Drew missed the final two games this season with a knee injury as his team was fighting for a playoff birth.

I understand that most players will never get the opportunity to play in a championship game so if given the chance they would do whatever it took to stay on the field. Ronnie Lott, former safety and Hall of Famer for the San Francisco 49’ers once had part of a broken finger amputated so he could finish a game. Now some would consider this both tough and crazy. But Football requires toughness; it’s one of the most physically demanding sports on your body. Every player has to be both mentally and physically tough to make it to this level.

It’s important to remember that football is a team sport and if you’re physically unable to perform at the high level the NFL demands because of injury then you’re doing more harm than good to your team as well as yourself. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion but to question a person’s toughness is unjust. Every person’s threshold for pain is different; something that is bearable to one person might be extremely uncomfortable for another person. Therefore a person’s toughness is a difficult thing to measure.

The Chicago Bear’s training staff reported on Monday that Cutler has a grade two MCL sprain and would be questionable for the Super Bowl even if the Bears advanced. Although this diagnosis provides proof that Cutler did suffer a significant injury on Sunday there are still many critics who will forever question Jay Cutler’s toughness for not finishing Sunday’s game.

Rhode Island High School Football Team Sends The Wrong Message

Earlier this month St. George's, a private school in Rhode Island cancelled their football game against fellow Independent School Lawrence Academy from Massachusetts. St. George's headmaster Eric Peterson told the Boston Globe that they cancelled the game because of the students safety. "We are trying to keep our kids reasonably safe in a game that can be terribly exciting but has risks", said Peterson.

Lawrence Academy has been dominant thus far, putting up over 30 points a game on their way to a 4-0 start. They have five players that have committed to Division I schools and an offensive line that outweighs St. George's by an average of 100 pounds. Still the announcement of a forfeit came as bit of a surprise as it’s not something we typically see in high school sports.

If you go to St. George's athletic page on their website you will find articles titled "Athletics is a way of life at St. George's" and "St. George's has along athletic tradition." To me cancelling a game based on the competition's size and athletic ability seems to be a contradiction of these headlines.

In life there is always someone that is going to be bigger, stronger, smarter or faster than you. However, the bigger team does not always win. Not allowing young men to compete in athletics because they face a superior team sends the wrong message. Football is a physical sport and injuries do occur. Why would St. George’s field a football team if the school was concerned about the young men getting injured?

Once you quit one thing it becomes easier to quit on other things in life. These are young men that are in high school they are not little kids. The message that was sent to these young men is that when you encounter something in life that may be difficult it is ok to give up. What about those young men on the team that wanted to play because they respect competition? Eric Peterson’s message to them was that you’re not good enough to compete with Lawrence Academy.

Part of growing up involves being defeated at times. You learn from your mistakes after a bad loss and try to improve for the next game. Suffering a sound defeat could have been a humbling experience to the St. George’s program. The forfeit sent the wrong message to young men about facing difficult challenges in life.