7Elway7
05-18-2006, 11:46 PM
The NFL and the NFLPA have reached agreement on a new procedure for determining whether a urine sample is sufficiently dilute to be considered a positive result.
Previously, a specimen with a specific gravity of less than 1.003 and a creatinine concentration of less than 20 mg/dL was considered to be diluted -- and automatically regarded as a positive. Prior to the 2003 draft, for example, there were reports that receiver Charles Rogers and cornerback Torrie Cox had generated dilute specimens at the scouting combine.
Said Cox's agent, Peter Schaffer, at the time: "This is ridiculous. I guess it means I'm representing a water abuser."
Although the NFL has not agreed to look the other way when it comes to dilute samples, the rules have been softened. A dilute sample will now be tested to the so-called "limits of detection." If positive, the result is then recorded as a positive. If negative at the "limits of detection," the result is then handled somewhat differently.
Most notably, a player in Stage Two or Stage Three gets one "warning" for an dilute sample that generates an "LOD Negative" result. Also, a player who is not in the substance abuse program enters based on behavior, not based on a positive test, if a dilute sample reveals no banned substances at the "limits of detection."
The NFL and the NFLPA also have reiterated the dress code for sample collection: "BARE ABOVE THE KNEES." The players may not wear shirts or other upper body garments, and all lower body garments must be pulled down to the knees.
This became an issue in 2005, when folks wondered how in the hell former Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was able to use a plastic pecker to funnel phony urine into the collection cup. The reality is that the employees responsible for monitoring the, ahem, harvesting of sample don't really want to stand there and watch the guy make pee-pee.
Previously, a specimen with a specific gravity of less than 1.003 and a creatinine concentration of less than 20 mg/dL was considered to be diluted -- and automatically regarded as a positive. Prior to the 2003 draft, for example, there were reports that receiver Charles Rogers and cornerback Torrie Cox had generated dilute specimens at the scouting combine.
Said Cox's agent, Peter Schaffer, at the time: "This is ridiculous. I guess it means I'm representing a water abuser."
Although the NFL has not agreed to look the other way when it comes to dilute samples, the rules have been softened. A dilute sample will now be tested to the so-called "limits of detection." If positive, the result is then recorded as a positive. If negative at the "limits of detection," the result is then handled somewhat differently.
Most notably, a player in Stage Two or Stage Three gets one "warning" for an dilute sample that generates an "LOD Negative" result. Also, a player who is not in the substance abuse program enters based on behavior, not based on a positive test, if a dilute sample reveals no banned substances at the "limits of detection."
The NFL and the NFLPA also have reiterated the dress code for sample collection: "BARE ABOVE THE KNEES." The players may not wear shirts or other upper body garments, and all lower body garments must be pulled down to the knees.
This became an issue in 2005, when folks wondered how in the hell former Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was able to use a plastic pecker to funnel phony urine into the collection cup. The reality is that the employees responsible for monitoring the, ahem, harvesting of sample don't really want to stand there and watch the guy make pee-pee.