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Cushing suspended 4 games for violating policy on performance-enhancing substances
- Thread starter nero THE zero
- Start date
wagonhed
Team Gruden
Sorry but to me, comparing a guy that up until now has done nothing but contribute immensely to this team to Brian Bosworth and saying that you think he is going to end up like him is pretty dick and completely unfounded.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Geez, dude. I never said there weren't limits. It's pretty obvious people have limits in growth. I said plateau.
So you're telling me that an athlete does NOT gain confidence while using steroids? If you lifted weights or trained for a particular event, wouldn't your confidence build each time you increase in weight, get a bit faster than the previous week? Will he have that same confidence now having to train without the PEDs? I don't think he will until he can prove it to himself that he can get the results naturally.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Enough with the insults folks.
GP
Go Texans!
Folks, as in plural?
I think it's one person, no?
The guy has reamed out anybody who disagrees with him. And we've been more fair to him than he deserves, IMO.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
I simply posed it as a question and how bad I felt about the situation once I'd heard the news.
Brando
Hall of Fame
This is what I'm thinking in light of the Adam Schefter report. If he tested positive in September of 2009 that means he had random drug test the rest of the year and he passed them. That would mean he will be the same player when he comes back.
I like this quote by Cush......
False Start
On # 69
If he failed in September, I'm sure they tested him quite a bit throughout the season to see if he was still taking the substance.. So, I guess he passed them all. Everyone makes mistakes, and he is paying for it. He did however, let his team, and the organization down.
I still got his back. though.
I still got his back. though.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
wagonhed
Team Gruden
Fine, you posed it as a question. I still think it's unwarranted. Is there a single similarity between Bosworth and Cushing besides they are both LBs?
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
If he failed in September, I'm sure they tested him quite a bit throughout the season to see if he was still taking the substance.. So, I guess he passed them all. Everyone makes mistakes, and he is paying for it. He did however, let his team, and the organization down.
I still got his back. though.
In the end, I think we all have Cush's back. I'm only worried about what Cush we're going to see come week 5. I hope he takes it as a slap and the face and comes out knockin piss outta people.
wagonhed
Team Gruden
Look, with this and the other posts, I just think you're being unfair to the guy. We have no idea how much confidence he did or didn't get from what he was taking, and we don't even know what he was taking in the first place. So this talk from you and GP about the psychological consequences, and which famous player that turned to **** Cushing will most resemble, is unfounded and pointless in my opinion. I don't understand why we can't just support the guy and see what happens before we compare him to Giambi and Bosworth etc.
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
I'm not sure that any source has yet laid out a timeline of when he tested positive, to when he was informed, to when he appealed, and if in the interim there was another positive test that sealed his fate.
GP
Go Texans!
Who appointed you judge, jury, and executioner?
You lace your replies with insults, and it isn't buying you much on here.
Just respect people WHILE disagreeing with them. Please.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Turn the frown upside down mister... Think more Julius Peppers than "the Boz".
I'm beginning to, TB. Remember how I said I felt after the titans MNF game? That's how I felt upon hearing the news on Cush. Like a swift kick in the package.
LOL, there's probably not many similarities between the two. He was just the first thing that entered my mind at the time. I just remembered all the rumors about the Boz and steroids when he played for OU.
GP
Go Texans!
I support the guy. I care enough to post on it, and I care enough to wade through your insult-laced, profanity-riddled replies while doing it.
You act as if only YOU are in his corner. As if YOU are the sole voice of reason on here.
I see lots of people who are dealing with a vast array of reasoning and emotions on this, but you are trying to invalidate anyone who doesn't match YOUR opinion and respect YOUR words.
So insult them, and that's gonna' do the trick? Nope.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
I know how you felt. I felt like I had been kicked in the junk at first too. After digesting it a bit over the weekend, I'm in the let's "wait and see what happens" mode.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
See my post above. I do and will support him. I think we're talkin hypotheticals
Second Honeymoon
Hall of Fame
the blame game
cushing is to blame for getting busted and costing the team 4 games
the texans took a risk and drafted him amidst the suspicions and reports...
...i won't blame the texans for taking a risk because they need to be willing to take risks
however i will blame the Texans for not helping the team's defense in Free Agency because you gotta feel they thought the suspension would be upheld and that Cushing would be suspended. they stood pat even with the impending spectre of his suspension.
i will give them credit for drafting Sharpton though, and that pick makes more sense now that the news has broken.
now that Haynesworth is being badmouthed by his teammates, maybe we should make a call to Washington and see what it would take to get him in a Texans uniform. Yeah its a risk, but the NFL is a risk and you gotta be willing to take them if you want to succeed.
send the Skins a 3rd Rounder that turns into a 2nd Rounder and a 5th Rounder if the Texans make the playoffs in 2010. We offset the 4 game loss of Cushing by adding Haynesworth and you show the fans that we are truly focused on making 2010 a successful Texans season.
Then Week 5 you get Cushing back and hope he is still effective and is ready to contribute to the team.
as for the warring on this thread, everyone agrees that Cushing screwed up. we all want the Texans to improve next year and make the playoffs. To act like Cushing isn't at fault or that 'everyone is doing it' is just foolish. Brian made a huge mistake. I will never support steroid use for any of my teams i follow. it's wrong, it is unsafe, and its unethical. period. stop trying to belittle people or act like its no big deal. Its a VERY big deal.
OK, Texans front office. It's time to be proactive and get this team in a position to succeed with or without Cushing moving forward. Grabbing Haynesworth at the right price both salary-wise and draft pick compensation-wise makes sense now more than ever. Send us a message that we aren't going to stand pat and hope for the best.
take care everyone and I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day with their mother or with their mother's memory.
cushing is to blame for getting busted and costing the team 4 games
the texans took a risk and drafted him amidst the suspicions and reports...
...i won't blame the texans for taking a risk because they need to be willing to take risks
however i will blame the Texans for not helping the team's defense in Free Agency because you gotta feel they thought the suspension would be upheld and that Cushing would be suspended. they stood pat even with the impending spectre of his suspension.
i will give them credit for drafting Sharpton though, and that pick makes more sense now that the news has broken.
now that Haynesworth is being badmouthed by his teammates, maybe we should make a call to Washington and see what it would take to get him in a Texans uniform. Yeah its a risk, but the NFL is a risk and you gotta be willing to take them if you want to succeed.
send the Skins a 3rd Rounder that turns into a 2nd Rounder and a 5th Rounder if the Texans make the playoffs in 2010. We offset the 4 game loss of Cushing by adding Haynesworth and you show the fans that we are truly focused on making 2010 a successful Texans season.
Then Week 5 you get Cushing back and hope he is still effective and is ready to contribute to the team.
as for the warring on this thread, everyone agrees that Cushing screwed up. we all want the Texans to improve next year and make the playoffs. To act like Cushing isn't at fault or that 'everyone is doing it' is just foolish. Brian made a huge mistake. I will never support steroid use for any of my teams i follow. it's wrong, it is unsafe, and its unethical. period. stop trying to belittle people or act like its no big deal. Its a VERY big deal.
OK, Texans front office. It's time to be proactive and get this team in a position to succeed with or without Cushing moving forward. Grabbing Haynesworth at the right price both salary-wise and draft pick compensation-wise makes sense now more than ever. Send us a message that we aren't going to stand pat and hope for the best.
take care everyone and I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day with their mother or with their mother's memory.
Texecutioner
Hall of Fame
What are you even defending at this point? People like GP and Hou-Tex are simply looking at old examples of players who tested positive for banned substances and recalling how their play dropped off. Not one of them has bashed Cushing nor has anyone else from what I've read. You keep saying that no one in here knows anything about what he did or didn't do, but the entire country knows he took a banned substance last year now. That's not speculation anymore. It happened and it's a fact in history. Players take substances to enhance their performance and the NFL and all other major sports typically ban substances that they've done research on to tell that those certain substances enhance their performance or helps them to heal faster which goes right back to enhancing performance.
Just because you can't understand why this is a problem for Cushing and the Texans doesn't mean you should denounce everyone in here or call them names. It doesn't make you look any smarter either. I'm still waiting for you to show some sort of statistical evidence or facts that backs up all of your claims that 90% of the players in the NFL are using PED's to where it's not a big deal. No one has doubted that there are probably other players, but you don't seem to have any problem throwing out some random 90% figure without any evidence or data to back up that claim. It's just random figures that you came up with on your own at this point to justify Cushing's choices to take banned substances.
GP
Go Texans!
Which, IIRC from what you posted earlier about the NFL policy, only creates the enormous strain we're experiencing right now.
There's a provision that protects players from the stigma of everyone knowing exactly WHAT the accused player consumed. This is not helping anyone, and it's obviously a well-intended clause that has actually done more to harm the whole thing than to help it.
Now we have CUSHING'S side, and that's it. Well, that irks me. Theg uy who failed the test gets to paint the picture how he wants it. Yet HE is the one who was in violation of the policies. Bass-ackwards to me.
Texecutioner
Hall of Fame
Good post SH. We definitely need to try and get our hands on an upgrade at S or DT right now. Hell, we could still use another CB if one comes available. I think our offense is going to be fine so we need to keep stacking this defense. Cushing being out for 4 games is a huge loss.
El Tejano
Hall of Fame
Ironically the first thing that I thought when I heard all this.LOL. Just thought of something to stir the pot here (not the NFL-banned pot, by the way. I don't Roger coming here and looking into things because I said "pot").
Kubiak is going to have a built-in excuse if we don't reach the playoffs.
McLain: "Bob, can you discuss the disappointment of not making the playoffs. Again?"
McNair: "Well, at the end of the year...we got together and looked back on the season and really found that Gary did an excellent job of dealing with some adversity at the beginning of the season. Those one or two games there, with Brian out, would have put us into the playoffs.........."
(Sigh)
I can almost hear it now....
wagonhed
Team Gruden
Are you having a hard time reading my posts? Because you've done nothing but put words in my mouth. This is the last time I'll correct you on it because I'm tired of repeating myself.
Did I say Cushing's suspension isn't a problem? Nope.
Did I say 90% of the NFL uses steroids? Nope.
Did I say we don't know if Cushing failed the drug test? Nope.
Did I say Cushing is justified for failing the drug test? Nope.
Pure fail. You can't accurately depict a single thing I've said.
Check the other thread for my actual thoughts if you want to stop making up what I said. And of course there is no statistical evidence. Like I said, you believe what you want, the rest of us will continue on in reality.
As far as knowing what he took, yeah we know he took something on the banned substance list, but since we are talking about psychological consequences in this discussion with HOUTEX and GP, we have no freaking idea what the consequences are of what he took because we don't know what he took. Newsflash: not every drug on the banned list has the exact same effect.
You're just all over the place dude. So focused on trying to show that I'm wrong you don't even have a clue what it is I've said. Sad.
El Tejano
Hall of Fame
I agree. SH made a great post. I stated in the Xavier Adibi thread that we needed to get Haynesworth now. I know it sounds like a knee jerk reaction but we need another guy out there that wants to play in a 4-3 defense and can automatically upgrade our defense while keeping OLs off whatever LBs we have right now.
Orakpo's 12 sack season wasn't just because of Orakpo. Noone else sees how KVB's production went down withouth Haynesworth?
wagonhed
Team Gruden
There are plenty of people who agree with me. I don't waste everyone's time by quoting them and saying YEAH DUDE I AGREE WITH U. I rep them and move on to those I don't agree with.
As far as trying to "invalidate" people, yeah, if I think you are spreading misinformation or making poor comparisons I will say so. If you think I'm wrong, feel free to argue against me. I've never denied anyone the right to respond to me, so what's your problem?
Also, as far as insults, you seem more focused on attacking me than on what any of my points are. Why is that?
Goldensilence
hipster elite
I think most people have Brian's "back" and don't feel the need to post "hey Brian dude, I got your back!"
Regardless , there's still questions and there's still going to be questions headed into next year. This doesn't mean that you don't support Brian as a Texan any less.
These are the things we know right now:
1.Brian tested positive for a banned substance or something on the list.
2. He's got a 4 game suspension.
That's about it.
What he could do to tell his "side" of the story:
1. Release a statement or do an interview. Do it within the next day or two.
2. Tell us what he could've tested positive for.
3. If it was steroids I think it would be best just to admit it and say I used steroids, I tested positive in Sept 09. I haven't tested positive since. It was a mistake I won't repeat.
4. Work with the team when he can. Show up in shape and ready to go once the season starts and play up to the same ability he did prior to us finding out.
Doing all that would answer any lingering questions people have about him in the fan base and league wide.
Maybe it's a part of me that's old school, but my initial reaction isn't just whether he cheated or not, but when there's steroids involved I always worry about about the long term effects on the athlete.
Regardless , there's still questions and there's still going to be questions headed into next year. This doesn't mean that you don't support Brian as a Texan any less.
These are the things we know right now:
1.Brian tested positive for a banned substance or something on the list.
2. He's got a 4 game suspension.
That's about it.
What he could do to tell his "side" of the story:
1. Release a statement or do an interview. Do it within the next day or two.
2. Tell us what he could've tested positive for.
3. If it was steroids I think it would be best just to admit it and say I used steroids, I tested positive in Sept 09. I haven't tested positive since. It was a mistake I won't repeat.
4. Work with the team when he can. Show up in shape and ready to go once the season starts and play up to the same ability he did prior to us finding out.
Doing all that would answer any lingering questions people have about him in the fan base and league wide.
Maybe it's a part of me that's old school, but my initial reaction isn't just whether he cheated or not, but when there's steroids involved I always worry about about the long term effects on the athlete.
Am I the only one suprised that Cush got caught??? I had a sneaking suspicion that he was jusicing all along. Im not mad or pissed like most out there. I wouldve been more suprised if he never got caught in his career. Hopefully he doesnt get caught again.
Was it worth it? 4 games for a defensive rookie of the year AND our first winning season that he had a HUGE hand in giving to us?
I vote yes personally. Its a huge PR nightmare and his reputation is obviously going to take a bigtime hit.....but be serious, the dude juiced in college/highschool and now apparently in the pros. No big suprise here.
Im not saying its ok to do it but the fact is Cush is a beast and now we know 100% why. Hes still one of my top three texans. He obviously wants to give it all to playing football, if he wants to risk his health thats his deal.
Ill welcome you back Cush come week 5 although I wish we had you for the Colts and the Cowboys.
Hopefully Sharpton blows the lid off this place.
Was it worth it? 4 games for a defensive rookie of the year AND our first winning season that he had a HUGE hand in giving to us?
I vote yes personally. Its a huge PR nightmare and his reputation is obviously going to take a bigtime hit.....but be serious, the dude juiced in college/highschool and now apparently in the pros. No big suprise here.
Im not saying its ok to do it but the fact is Cush is a beast and now we know 100% why. Hes still one of my top three texans. He obviously wants to give it all to playing football, if he wants to risk his health thats his deal.
Ill welcome you back Cush come week 5 although I wish we had you for the Colts and the Cowboys.
Hopefully Sharpton blows the lid off this place.
NitroGSXR
Super Sic #58
*in my best wagonhed voice*
Not all steroids are injectable, you ****ing *****. Come to the discussion armed with facts! I mean look at the goddamn pictures! I'm sick and tired of these people and their ****ing incompetence. I think I'm going to take a break from this board and its mother****ing retarded idiots for a few days. ****!
Texecutioner
Hall of Fame
You've rationalized it and brought up other players to help make your point as if it changes the fact that Cush is suspended.
Actually yes, you have.
No, but you just don't seem to care and for anyone else that's even remotely questioned the fact that his play or his confidence might drop off, you've abrasively denounced them or their thoughts.
Not in any exact words, but you practically have for several pages indirectly.
Okay then, so it's not out of the question for either of them to wonder if there will be any effects after the fact then. Neither of them said there would be effects for sure either. They just questioned it. No need to try to pick people apart for that. It's very reasonable.
Don't think I ever said that you were wrong even once. What I did was ask for you to provide some sort of evidence to back up your own claims and this is your 3rd response now where you refuse to provide anything to back up the arguments that you've made to denounce other posters. I'll keep waiting, but I won't expect anything at this point.
I would bet you would have the majority of Tack fans saying we should wait. That's what they're supposed to do. What we've got here, IMHO is extremely unhealthy.
And I am fine with the anger. I'm fine with calling him out for being a little bit selfish. All I'm saying, is let's not call him out for doing something he didn't do.
It would be like convicting Haynesworth for sodomizing Andre Garrard. Haynesworth was wrong, and should have been punished for what he did to Andre, but to go overboard, and start saying and blaming Albert for something he did not do doesn't make sense.
Even with the evidence they had, Tacks fans were still able to defend their player.
Ole Miss Texan
Hall of Fame
Oooh, don't do it!!
Dutchrudder
Hall of Fame
Super, this guy fails one substance test for unknown reasons, and now he doesn't deserve his DROY. Talk about guilty until proven innocent. I really hope it comes out that he was taking Sudafed for a sinus issue so we can trot out this NFL policy into the light and expose it for how ridiculous it is.
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Ole Miss Texan
Hall of Fame
This is why in most cases a team or league will say something to the effect, "we're aware of the situation and in the process of gathering all the facts we can before we make a decision." I think a lot of us are in the same position: This with Cushing doesn't completely surprise us, it doesn't look good, but we still know so little. I hate rushing to judgement and have learned to take the advice of what a lot of attorneys say. Don't speak in absolutes or it'll come back to bite you! In this case, with the DROY talks, there is no reason to rush to a decision. They need to let this thing play out.
The1ApplePie
Hall of Fame
I keep harping on it, but I think this will really make us regret skipping Navarro Bowman in the draft
Goldensilence
hipster elite
I think this is what gets me. If it was something like sudafed, which I doubt it is, then Cushing needs to make a statement or do an interview regarding what WAS taken. If the NFL cannot disclose what the substance was taken, than IMO Cushing needs to volunteer as much information as possible and quickly as possible.
I think we have ok depth at the LBer spot. I think even knowing this was coming it's still a bit of a surprise to take Sharpton who isn't really an elite athlete or put up killer numbers a the U.
I know people are trying to bump him up as a reason as to WHY we still took him, but I still think he's got some pretty decent guys to leap frog before he would get any PT.
Dutchrudder
Hall of Fame
This.
Yeah, I agree, he should come out and say exactly what he took and whether or it was accidental or not. The NFL won't do anything to him if he does, but we still can not corroborate it as truth. It would be totally awesome if it was for taking Sudafed or a non-PED banned substance, and it would exonerate him in the fan's eyes. I would certainly feel much better about the situation if he was hooked for a silly technicality.
Dutchrudder
Hall of Fame
We're mechanical engineers, aeronautical engineers, physics majors, robotics engineers, and electrical engineers. We build spacesuites, spacecraft, satellites, and propulsion systems. How do these things translate to drug testing again?
I actually know several biochemistry, biology and nutrition experts who work for NASA and its contractors. They all work specifically with the astronauts or to develop food and other physiological processes for life in space (exercise, diets, etc). Those people probably could work in an industry like that, but I don't think they are the one's being laid off in the near future.
Ole Miss Texan
Hall of Fame
NitroGSXR
Super Sic #58
Agreed. Change it to...
Appeal DENIED! Cushing suspended 4 games: Caught masking!
*or*
Cushing catches cold! NFL throws gauntlet down in appeal hearing! Suspended 4 games!
Kaiser Toro
Native Mod
The title was changed a few minutes ago. I know it will not soften the blow to the team, nor this fan, as Cushing being suspended for four games hurts no matter the reason.
