When Cheating Doesn't Matter

There seems to be a big difference if someone uses performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) (or some other type of drug that gives you an edge), in football than there is in baseball. If a baseball player is caught using PEDs the fans are outraged and the media is all over it. If a football player is caught, no one seems to care, let alone, still gets an award. Take the case of Brian Cushing.



Cushing is a rookie linebacker for the Houston Texans. In January he was voted by the Associated Press (AP) as their Defensive Rookie of the year. It was found out last Friday, that Cushing tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in September. HCG is not a steroid, but it is used to increase a body's testosterone levels after using a cycle of anabolic steroids, therefore making it a banned masking agent. Cushing was tested several times throughout the season and all tests were negative. The reason we didn't hear about it until this past Friday was due to his appeal of the suspension. The league upheld the suspension and now Cushing is suspended for the first four weeks of the upcoming football season. After news of the suspension, the AP decided to revote for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award today. Who wins the revote? None other than Brian Cushing.

I have several issues with this whole situation. First, I don't know how a player can appeal a PED related suspension and not have his appeal heard until AFTER the season. Second, when Cushing's suspension was announced on Friday, it was pretty much a non-news story. I, who watches and reads a ton about sports every day, didn't even know about it until Monday when I heard about it on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio (they were also making an issue out of not hearing about it until Monday either). I also have a huge issue with these writers who voted for a player who cheated. A lot of baseball writers will not vote for anyone who is either suspected of, has been proven to use, or even played in the so-called steroid era. Are some of the football writers setting their own precedent by saying they don't care if a player uses PEDs? When Manny Ramirez, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, tested positive for the same masking agent and was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball last year, it was a a HUGE story for days and weeks. When Shawne Merriman was suspended for four games in 2006 for steroids, he still made the Pro Bowl (The NFL subsequently passed a rule banning players who are suspended for PEDs, from winning any post season awards or attending the Pro Bowl). Why is their no outrage for football players who are caught or suspected of using PEDs?

I do not like the fact that baseball players get ripped for PED use while football players do not. I don't want to hear that baseball holds their numbers and records in higher esteem than other sports. So what if they do? That doesn't matter at all or take away from the fact that cheating, is cheating, no matter what sport you are in. We either ignore all players use of PEDs or we show outrage for it across the world of sports, not just baseball.