Getting tested for HGH before the Super Bowl has made Seattle Seahawks players very angry, claiming they’re being treated like criminals. After the New England Patriots got the cheater treatment for most of the two-week break, it’s fair that both teams have something to complain about.
Just like the Patriots have history with cheating and preferential treatment from referees and the league which made the deflated balls issue (which is still unresolved and is shrouded by mysterious claims of a cover up on both sides, the league’s and the team’s) a lot bigger than it would have been for any other team, the Seahawks and some of the players on this team have a history with performance enhancing drugs and suspensions.
As a rule, the NFL’s HGH random testing program selects six players each out of eight randomly selected teams per week in the offseason. Random testing for HGH isn’t as frequent once training camp begins through the end of postseason. Earl Thomas, who is still suffering from a shoulder injury sustained during the NFC championship game win over the Green Bay Packers, was one of the players tested for HGH by the league.
Yesterday I said my shoulder was a 10 … Wake up the next morning and I have a blood test for HGH .. League office distraction
— Earl Thomas (@Earl_Thomas) January 29, 2015
Thomas was wearing a bandage on his right arm during the final media appearance before the game, but refused to elaborate on his tweet or his anger regarding the NFL choosing him for the testing. Maybe the fact that the Seahawks players have been fined around $300,000 for PED use since Pete Carroll became their head coach would make him feel a little bit less prosecuted, but players never see things objectively.
So we have one team feeling angry for being treated like criminals. We have another team fuming for being targeted by the league and labeled as cheaters without any proof, or at least not satisfactory one. Maybe all that anger will be channeled in the right direction, and we’ll have a special, possibly historic Super Bowl.