Orlando Scandrick Got Boned By The NFL's Stupid Drug Testing Policy

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick has been suspended for the first four games of the season after testing positive for PEDs. This is dumb, because while Scandrick did have drugs in his system when he was tested, if his version of events is true, there's no way that the drugs he took should have been considered "performance enhancing."

After news of the suspension broke yesterday, Scandrick told Fox Sports' Jay Glazer that his positive test was the result of something he took while on vacation in Mexico. Glazer later reported that Scandrick took Molly, and that the amphetamines in the drug are what got him popped for a positive PED test:

A recreational drug like MDMA should be classified as a "drug of abuse" under the NFL's testing policy, not a performance enhancer. That means that a positive test for MDMA, if it is the player's first positive test for a drug of abuse, wouldn't result in a suspension at all but rather enrollment in the NFL's substance abuse program.

The real bitch of it is that this wouldn't still be an issue if the NFL and NFLPA had been able to finalize a deal on the new drug testing policy that is currently on the table. The new proposed policy would parse through positive tests with a more discerning eye, and would hopefully ease penalties for recreational drugs like Adderall and Molly. Of course, the reason this policy has yet to be approved is because the NFL refuses to agree to neutral arbitration on cases where Biogenisis-style proof of abuse is used to mete out punishment rather than an actual failed test.

If not for Roger Goodell's stubborn insistence on having complete autonomy over how these potential penalties would be doled out and arbitrated, Orlando Scandrick would be suiting up for the Cowboys in Week 1. Instead, we end up with a guy who was just trying to party getting punished as if he was trying to cheat.