eriadoc
06-20-2011, 06:04 PM
So Mr. Irrelevant 2008 (Rams) actually made the team, which is unusual. Then he was busted for steroids and suspended in 2009. Like every other player busted for steroids, he denied it. He claimed to be the victim of a tainted supplement. As it turns out, he was telling the truth and he just won a lawsuit against the company that manufactured the tainted supplement.
LINK
(http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/NFL-player-who-claimed-8216-tainted-supplement?urn=nfl-wp2759)
Rams linebacker David Vobora(notes) was suspended in 2009 for a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy. He argued all along that he was the victim of a contaminated supplement.
If you thought about Vobora's suspension at all, you may have thought something like, "Sure, likely story, pal." As it turns out, Vobora was telling the truth. A federal judge backed him up today, awarding Vobora $5.4 million in his lawsuit against the firm that manufactured the supplement.
"It is a landmark decision, not only in the industry but in the ongoing controversy that has dominated sports for the past 10 years with athletes testing positive for steroids," said R. Daniel Fleck, a Spence attorney. "So many of the athletes are claiming that they haven't cheated and the supplements have been tainted. And it's true. They are getting caught in the middle."
I have to admit to finding the story eye-opening. If an athlete tested positive for a performance enhancer and blamed a tainted supplement, I was likely to scoff. Perhaps now I won't be so quick to reach for the skepticism.
Vobora tested positive for methyltestosterone after using a spray manufactured by a company called "S.W.A.T.S." or "Sports With Alternatives to Steroids." The spray was not on the list of NFL-approved supplements, but after studying the list of ingredients and calling the NFL supplement hotline, he believed the product to be safe.
It wasn't. Today, the courts agreed that the product contained something it shouldn't have.
For all the cynicism that professional sports brings out in me, I was happy to hear of one that was vindicated.
LINK
(http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/NFL-player-who-claimed-8216-tainted-supplement?urn=nfl-wp2759)
Rams linebacker David Vobora(notes) was suspended in 2009 for a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy. He argued all along that he was the victim of a contaminated supplement.
If you thought about Vobora's suspension at all, you may have thought something like, "Sure, likely story, pal." As it turns out, Vobora was telling the truth. A federal judge backed him up today, awarding Vobora $5.4 million in his lawsuit against the firm that manufactured the supplement.
"It is a landmark decision, not only in the industry but in the ongoing controversy that has dominated sports for the past 10 years with athletes testing positive for steroids," said R. Daniel Fleck, a Spence attorney. "So many of the athletes are claiming that they haven't cheated and the supplements have been tainted. And it's true. They are getting caught in the middle."
I have to admit to finding the story eye-opening. If an athlete tested positive for a performance enhancer and blamed a tainted supplement, I was likely to scoff. Perhaps now I won't be so quick to reach for the skepticism.
Vobora tested positive for methyltestosterone after using a spray manufactured by a company called "S.W.A.T.S." or "Sports With Alternatives to Steroids." The spray was not on the list of NFL-approved supplements, but after studying the list of ingredients and calling the NFL supplement hotline, he believed the product to be safe.
It wasn't. Today, the courts agreed that the product contained something it shouldn't have.
For all the cynicism that professional sports brings out in me, I was happy to hear of one that was vindicated.