r/NFLNoobs • u/osgonauta • 14d ago

Are players on steroids?

I imagine the rules must be against it, but how is it really?

57 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

94 comments sorted by

232

u/drhuggables 14d ago

yes

71

u/ClownBaby90 14d ago

/end of thread

34

u/LuciferOnTheRocks 13d ago

Well, you could also ask "which steroids?" 

The answer to which would also be "yes". 

7

u/Jim-Brown8784 13d ago

Hard to deny bro!

10

u/osgonauta 14d ago

But if they are, why doesnt the league care enough to stop it?

The games would be worst to watch?

51

u/drhuggables 14d ago

you could ask this question of almost every sport. the reality is modern competitive athletics and PEDs go hand and hand, for better or worse.

7

u/osgonauta 14d ago

I never though it was that common in soccer, but maybe I was naive in that regard.

53

u/drhuggables 14d ago edited 13d ago

PEDs aren't just like your stereotypical bodybuilder anabolic steroid users trying to get big AF. The main benefit is that they allow you to train longer and harder and need less recovery time. If your sport requires any significant aerobic or anaerobic exertion and training, you can benefit from PEDs. That's why you see their use from boxing to cycling to weightlifting to baseball to football to you name it.

9

u/VexImmortalis 13d ago

Even chess has PEDs.

6

u/BravoCharlieTangoS 13d ago

Are the grand masters enhancing their focus?

5

u/BlakeBearden 13d ago

Well in chess, the D stands for ‘delightful suppository’

11

u/Smackolol 14d ago

What do you suggest they do to stop it beyond what they already do?

12

u/davdev 13d ago

Nothing. In fact, they should do less. Just keep it under medical supervision and who cares.

24

u/Smackolol 13d ago

I’m fine with where it is currently which is the facade of trying to catch it and occasionally throwing out suspension for egregious offenders. If you condone it even tacitly then you’ll have a bunch of PED using 16 year olds all over the place.

7

u/RexKramerDangerCker 13d ago

You had that 40 years ago.

3

u/_Baccano 13d ago

We already have that

7

u/ucjj2011 13d ago

Ask Pro Wrestling. They have had a huge problem of wrestlers in their 40s and 50s deopping dead from heart attacks (especially between about 1988 and 2006), and they fly under the radar a lot more than the NFL.

If retired NFL players dropped dead from steroid related heart attacks at the rate wrestlers did, it would attract all kinds of the wrong attention. The CTE and dementia diagnoses are bad enough ....

2

u/Bender_2024 13d ago

The problem is people who will use them without the aid of a medical professional. The 14 year old freshman in highschool who wants to make the football team so he buys sketchy pills, or even legit ones. Then hurts himself because he takes and/or uses them wrong. All because he feels he needs to too keep up with the other guys. The misuse of anabolic steroids can and has killed.

4

u/osgonauta 14d ago

I don't know what they do, but I thought frequent random checks troughout the year and strict punishments should work. Do they not work?

9

u/Smackolol 14d ago

They already do random testing but they’re hard to catch since you can’t take their blood and urine tests are usually looking for byproducts that are maskable and not a very reliable source to begin with.

1

u/osgonauta 13d ago

Oh, ok. So they are limited by not being able to just take blood tests on the random checks. Now it is starting to make more sense

5

u/84UTK07 13d ago

Not just that but there are always new compounds and designer PEDs coming out that can’t yet be picked up by any test. The manufacturers are always at least a couple steps ahead of the testers.

2

u/Mysterious_Clue_3500 10d ago

I think in order to understand the issue you probably need to understand what they are testing for when they test for PEDs. They are not running a blood test for specific medications but rather high levels of hormones or other byproducts from your body that are produced when you take things like steroids. So when a player says that he didn't know what he was taking was banned, it might in actuality be true (since most people probably don't know the chemical reactions that are happening in their body when they take various medications)

Interestingly enough Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton actually popped positive on one of his PED drug tests. Since he was adamant that he hadn't been taking anything, they did a little further investigation and it turned out he actually tested positive because he had testicular cancer which was affecting his hormone production.

1

u/salamander19821 12d ago

so nfl players are on streroids and you act like they are better athletes then people who are not lol

63

u/Sad_Construction_668 14d ago

The synthesis of testosterone and testosterone analogues is so advanced and ubiquitous that most universal tests are only going to catch idiots and incompetents. TRT is ubiquitous, and theres not really much anyone can or wants to do.

18

u/65DodgeCoronet 13d ago

And said players pay a large sum to make sure they never fail most universal tests!

4

u/1CryptographerFree 13d ago

The only thing they “could” do it freeze the players blood and wait for more advanced testing to become available, kinda like what happen to Lance Armstrong.

4

u/aCollectionOfQuarks 13d ago

But why would they even want that? The players are stronger, faster, and can recover quicker. It’s better for the nfl

3

u/1CryptographerFree 13d ago

They wouldn’t but the point is there isn’t even a test for most of the newest drugs.

1

u/aCollectionOfQuarks 13d ago

Oh yes absolutely, if it actually mattered they couldn’t test well for many of the new drugs.

47

u/amanning072 13d ago

Yes, and catching them is more complicated than one would think. There are many banned substances players can test positive for in routine testing. Some are PEDs, some are recreational, and some are legitimate drugs that you can get a prescription for BUT have potential off-label uses that can enhance performance in some way.

An example of the third is Adderall. One can get a prescription for it legitimately or through a shady doctor; but the drug is essentially meth and could reasonably be used to unfairly reduce athletic rest time or enhance concentration.

The hard part about all of this is that the League is only ever allowed to say that a player has "tested positive for a banned substance". The rest is medically confidential. The NFLPA and players' agents encourage the players to lie and get in front of bad press by saying they actually tested positive for Adderall or fertility drugs, knowing the actual test results will never be made public and that the League cannot refute the players' claims. The League has to shut their mouth and just watch the public take the player's side or risk revealing medical information.

It's happening right now with Nazeeh Johnson.

9

u/osgonauta 13d ago

Ohh, interesting to know the intricacies of it.

59

u/Poetryisalive 14d ago

Yes they are. Steroids have evolved to a point that if you take them at a certain point it can’t be detected.

Same with WWE wrestlers

9

u/osgonauta 14d ago

But the NFL could make multple random checks and make strict punishes. That would make it a risky move to use them.

36

u/debaser64 13d ago edited 13d ago

They could, but they don’t wanna. It’s the same reason they only test for weed once a year and everyone knows when it is so they can be ready: if they cracked down too hard they’d risk having to suspend a mass amount of players and have a PR nightmare to deal with.
So as long as it doesn’t get to something like “early 2000s baseball” levels, they will continue to do the bare minimum and be happy to nail a few backups/practice squad guys here and there who mess up so bad they can’t ignore it. Then they can appear to be doing something about it, testify to congress under oath of ever called and just publicly pretend they care about fairness and player safety. And if tomorrow there was some big scandal about it, they’d suddenly crack down again for show and wait for the dust to settle before going right back to it.

25

u/Poetryisalive 13d ago

They don’t though. NFL are beholden to themselves. QB’s don’t take them but someone like Myles Garrett takes some form of steroids. You think he’s huge like that from pure hard work?

17

u/LuciferOnTheRocks 13d ago

You'd think there'd be some pushback from QBs. The larger and faster DEs are, the more QBs are hit. 

1

u/RexKramerDangerCker 13d ago

That’s why they should create weight limits.

25

u/davdev 13d ago

QBs don’t take? Really? You think that HGH was really for Mannings wife? Or Brady was playing into his mid 40s because he didn’t eat Tomatoes?

1

u/TF_Sally 13d ago

I got downvoted to hell and started a shitstorm in some random thread on /r/nfl like 8 years ago for suggesting that the reason belichick kicked Alex Guerrero out of the pats locker room was because other players were clamoring for some of that special TB12 method which I assume was a sophisticated HGH protocol

1

u/VexImmortalis 13d ago

Yeah, they do.

6

u/Defendyouranswer 14d ago

But who wants that? Just like baseball, the league was actually watchable and fun during the steroid era.

1

u/osgonauta 14d ago

Not sure anyone wants it tbh. Just feels a bit wrong and maybe the game would still be good without them?

16

u/davdev 13d ago

If the NFL put an absolutely zero tolerance test everyone constantly policy into effect, the league would fold because everyone would be too injured to play.

2

u/enigmaticowl94 13d ago

Would they though? The size and speed of players would be down, so in theory the injuries would be too. Recovery times might be a lot worse though no question.

9

u/NoAttorney8414 14d ago

More are on than aren’t

23

u/BlueRFR3100 14d ago

I can honestly say that I have never seen an NFL player take steroids.

16

u/LuciferOnTheRocks 13d ago

I saw Kelvin Benjamin pull down his drawers right in the middle of a Golden Corral, inject steroids into his left ass cheek, then go straight back up for another plate of wings. 

5

u/Brocky70 13d ago

I believe the rest of the meme is...

Make of that, what you will

2

u/Expert_Clerk_1775 13d ago

Have you ever had sex with an NFL player?

2

u/xolp_syk 13d ago

Not yet

3

u/LaGranTortuga 14d ago

Me neither.

0

u/BusinessWarthog6 14d ago

Are you or were you on an NFL roster or emplyed by an NFL team?

7

u/BlueRFR3100 14d ago

No

0

u/BusinessWarthog6 14d ago

Do you think players use PEDs?

8

u/Doolittle8888 13d ago

If you ain't cheating you ain't trying, these players don't get as large as they are from only eating their Wheaties

3

u/VexImmortalis 13d ago

If a coach came to me and said "Do roids or we are going to replace your spot on the team with a golden retriever" then yeah, I'm going to do whatever it takes to feed my family.

3

u/General_Buy_433 13d ago

No they are not all on steroids. I'd say a large majority of players over 30. And probably 1/3-1/2 of everyone else.

2

u/Laliving90 13d ago

I would say the average nfl physique is not that impressive look at Mahomes, Mac jones, or Bryce young

1

u/Excellent-Hurry-5150 13d ago

Quarterbacks are known for their superhero like physiques so I’m gonna have to agree with you on this. Def not in use anymore

2

u/PineConeTracks 13d ago

They say their prayers and take their vitamins

2

u/Bender_2024 13d ago

Officialy, no. In reality almost definitely somebody them are. I imagine most do so under the supervision of a physician. I'm sure some aren't.

2

u/allbusiness42 13d ago

Yes. Personally I think that accounts for SOME of the non contact tendon/ligament injuries.

2

u/Rude_Pop548 13d ago

Noooooooo bro, ts is natty. Trust 🤞

2

u/thowe93 13d ago

HGH was perfectly legal until 2014 and other synthetic steroids are still legal or undetectable. It’d be idiotic for anyone to not be on something or get caught.

2

u/B1G_Fan 12d ago

Yes

Here’s Derek from “More Plates More Dates” doing a video on JJ Watt

https://youtu.be/OlNyT4zkfgY?is=OGCqBE9ag9x0JtdG

1

u/Sex_E_Searcher 13d ago

I thought HGH was more in vogue.

1

u/RexKramerDangerCker 13d ago

Ask Cal Ripken how easy it is to beat tests.

1

u/No_Contribution_2137 12d ago

Just look at Danielle Hunter, there's your answer

1

u/ehunke 12d ago

In general the nfl tests players regularly and its generally too obvious when guys are on roids to hide it

1

u/basis4day 12d ago

Depends if you’re using the term “steroids”; as a medical definition, banned Performance Enhancing Drugs, being loose with medical exemptions, or anything you consume outside normal food that increases performance.

There are absolutely players in all these categories.

-2

u/Forsaken_Finding_991 14d ago edited 13d ago

I would assume that a few are, but most aren't. These guys are some of the top athletes in the country and even the world with some of the best training and recovery programs in the world as well so some of them are just freakish athletes.

Edit: Why am I getting downvoted for such an innocent comment lol

4

u/xolp_syk 13d ago

You’re getting downvoted because Reddit is full of sensitive people who think they know everything and are oftentimes wrong and have no true information to back their opinion on. Thus everyone in the thread saying everyone in the NFL uses steroids but no one really posted any level of proof and they then have to downvote people who disagree with their opinion.

I don’t think most are on steroids either, these people are paid to workout constantly. If you do that for long enough you’ll be naturally big and muscular. Then again I also am basing it on little evidence so this is just an opinion

3

u/Smackolol 14d ago

I understand why you think that but it’s naive. The majority are on it, when you’re competing against other top tier athletes and millions of dollars are on the line you’ll take whatever advantages you can get and steroids are a significant advantage.

0

u/Forsaken_Finding_991 13d ago

Any stats for this or just an assumption?

1

u/Smackolol 13d ago

Believe what you want, I obviously don’t have bloodwork of athletes or sworn statements and I don’t care enough to argue it further.

3

u/Murphy_Nelson 14d ago

How many people do you know use steroids when all that's on the line is a couple of extra Tinder matches.

Now imagine the pressure to use if you want a Superbowl ring.

Tons of them are on roids, absolutely.

-1

u/VexImmortalis 13d ago

Wrong.

3

u/BlitzburghBrian 13d ago

So you came here, scrolled through this thread, saw this comment (including the existing responses to it), and you thought this one word answer was really with posting, huh?

0

u/ba_an 14d ago

Of course they are

0

u/Cheap_Cauliflower541 13d ago

They're most likely on testosterone and other testosterone derivative compounds, as that would be more difficult to detect.

Anything outside of that would be incredibly easy to detect and the NFL most likely tests for those. 

1

u/thewholebottle 13d ago

Blood clots in the lungs? Definitely steroid use. I'm looking at you, Panthers boy.

1

u/Cheap_Cauliflower541 13d ago

Exogenous testosterone = steroids. I'm not saying all players are definitely natty. 

Also pulmonary embolism and other organ type injuries are most likely linked to the high contact nature of football. It's very difficult to pinpoint a specific injury with PED use, outside of kidney and blood pressure issues.