Is There an Adderall Epidemic in the NFL?

It is nothing new for the NFL to announce that a player has been suspended for the use of performance enhancing drugs. In a game like football where players are always trying to figure out how to be bigger, stronger, faster, and essentially better than the next guy.

Many (or most) do so in legitimate ways, but there are plenty that have been and are willing to circumvent the rules in order to gain a competitive advantage. With the money that is on the line even for practice players in the NFL it is almost understandable.

That is what the league has a drug policy in place for, but these days it seems to be catching a group of guys that are not necessarily trying to get a competitive advantage. They are some of the many that suffer with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

The news broke earlier this week that three more players were looking at suspensions after reportedly testing positive for Adderall - bringing the total of confirmed players to 10 this season, Seattle Seahawks starting cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner along with Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Eric Wright.

Wright is the second Bucs defensive back to get suspended. The first was Aqib Talib who has since been traded to the New England Patriots.

According to the rumor mill, Sherman claimed that he drank from a teammates water bottle who had crushed up a pill ad added it to the water, but refused to say who. He has since denied the accidental ingestion story. Browner has not come right out and said it, but has implied that his sample was switched with another.

The big question is how come these guys didn't take the time (or their agents) to fill out the paperwork when news broke during the summer that Packers defensive end Mike McNeal was being suspended for Adderall or when Giants running back Andre Brown or Houston punter Brett Hartmann were suspended (news that also broke in the summer).

If all it takes is filling out some paperwork, what's the problem?

It could very well because they are lying. The NFL has a strict policy about not saying what a player has been suspended for, just that he has. However, the stigma of steroids is pretty much assumed as soon as the news breaks. It is likely that some of these players are using Adderall as an excuse in order to gain public support for a fairly common medical issue.

If that was the case, you would think that the NFL would lift the suspension or at least reduce it like Andre Brown's and Brett Hartmann's.

So either these guys need to pay better attention to the league's drug policy (a possible problem considering what they take the drug for) or they are really lying, cheating, dirty rascals that deserve what they get.