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Column: Does he have a point?
Column: Does he have a point?, By: Jimmy Ivey
A grumbling has made its way out of South Florida and it raises, I think, a good point.
Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, one of the leading candidates for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award, was critical of San Diego Chargers star linebacker Shawne Merriman Wednesday during a conference call with Indianapolis media.
In the conference call, Taylor stated that Merriman’s selection to the Pro Bowl and his possible winning of other postseason awards after being suspended four games for violation of the NFL steroid policy sets a dangerous precedent for the NFL.
In the AP story, Taylor was quoted saying, “A performance-enhancing drug is, obviously, what it is. You enhance your performance by doing that. You fail that test, I think it’s not right. It’s against the rules and ultimately I think it’s sending the wrong message to the youth in America and the people who look at this game not only as entertainment, but also to learn lessons from it.”
Merriman claims his positive test was the result of a tainted supplement and was poised to right the league on the issue until it became evident that he might hurt his team more by dragging out the suspension.
Merriman sat out his four games against Cleveland, Cincinnati, Denver and Oakland. His team did not suffer, as the Chargers went 4-0 during the suspension, but come on, two of the teams they played were the Browns and the Raiders, two teams who stink worse than Christmas dinner leftovers served New Year’s Day.
Despite sitting out those four games, heading into today’s action, Merriman still has some of the better defensive numbers in the league. In his second year in the league, he leads the NFL in sacks with 16 in 11 games and has four forced fumbles and one interception.
Has Merriman completed his punishment? Yes, he served his suspension. Was it really a tainted supplement? Maybe. We may never know. But we all agree that professional sports are flooded with performance-enhancing drugs. The recent struggles in track and field, cycling and Major League Baseball have brought the performance-enhancing drugs problem to the forefront of the national consciousness.
For the record, I agree with Taylor. For this year, Merriman should not be in the running for any postseason awards, including a trip to the Pro Bowl. Some disagree, including ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Jr., stating that Merriman’s body of work in the 11 games he has played in this season still merits the achievements that will come Merriman’s way.
But let me ask this question. Major League slugger Mark McGwire is up for nomination to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Many voters have stated they won’t vote for McGwire on the first ballot due to the swirling steroid talk following McGwire since his testimony in front of Congress in 2005. Some have even said they will never vote for McGwire. Much of the same talk will come up again in a couple of years when players like Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds come up for nomination to the hall of fame.
The argument is that we don’t know if the statistics they have accumulated are legitimate or propped up from the end of a needle or smoothed onto the record books by various creams.
Now, does not the same argument apply in this case. It is hard believing Merriman took a tainted supplement because excuses for failing steroid or other performance-enhancing drug tests have become much like the little boy who cried wolf.
We have heard it before‚ way too many times.
You can deny you took these type of drugs until you are blue in the face, but there still are consequences, some far more reaching than a four-game suspension.
Too many players have incentives built into their contracts now to rake in the big money. Making the Pro Bowl or being named Defensive Player of the Year could equal big bonuses, not to mention the future leverage it gives a player for the bigger contract the next time around.
Wait a minute. It is the baseball argument all over again, just in a different sport.
Some may think that just because it did not happen in either cycling, track and field or baseball that the situation is different. Wrong. And the fact some people feel it is different maybe the biggest travesty of all.
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