Eric Reid news begs the question: Who’s really on drugs, him or the NFL?
I thought the NFL was against targeting.
Well, a recent report makes it appear as if the league is against the act on the field but not so much off it.
Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid said he’s received his sixth random drug test in 11 weeks, a figure that doesn’t appear to be random at all. That’s like throwing your name in a hat 10 times and two other people throwing in theirs once each and then you saying you randomly won.
“I’ve been here 11 weeks, I’ve been drug-tested seven times,” Reid said in a video, referring to seven to include the one he took as part of his physical. “That has to be statistically impossible. I’m not a mathematician, but there’s no way that’s random.”
Just imagine how many drug tests Colin Kaepernick would get if he was ever allowed to return to the league. We’d probably have a new definition for two-a-days.
Let’s face it: Eric Reid is Colin Kaepernick Light. And surely the league would love to find a way to get him ousted (I’m still stunned he found a way to get back in the NFL).
Yes, he kneels during the national anthem, carrying on the protest against racially charged police brutality that made Kaepernick infamous and has kept him out of the league (though no one will admit it).
But random drug tests get someone in trouble only if they are indeed doing something wrong. So far, nothing.
I’m no defender of Reid, as I argued that his return to the league represented a great opportunity to end the kneeling war in a civil way. Instead, he’s still at it and in fact had specially designed cleats that had Kaepernick featured on them.
The act has gotten tiring, and that’s coming from someone who originally backed Kaepernick while many of you disagreed with me.
But Reid doesn’t deserve what appears to be unfair targeting from the NFL. No one does. This is called discrimination and that’s kinda the exact action that started Kaepernick’s movement, right?
If the NFL truly is targeting Reid, it’s unacceptable. Especially now.
This comes just weeks after revelations showed the NFL once again bumbled a domestic violence situation with former Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt.
What exactly are the NFL’s priorities these days? Why can’t they seem to get anything right?
It’s almost as if they don’t want to. Hmm . . .
We need to remember to revisit this by the start of next season. Will Hunt be back in the league? Probably. Will Reid still be in the league? Maybe. Will Kaepernick still be sitting on the sideline, his talent wasting away while the likes of Josh Johnson, Mark Sanchez and other terrible quarterbacks find their way onto the field? Very likely.
So what can we conclude? The NFL has a strict stance on violence — when it’s on the field, not so much off it and the league’s “random” drug testing is the newest conspiracy theory.
I’m not sure what league officials are smoking, but it sure stinks. Maybe it’s time for them to run to Target and see if they can find some home drug testing kits.
This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 4:27 PM.
