Arizona Cardinals linebacker Markus Bailey, on the team’s practice squad, was suspended for six games under the NFL’s policy for performance-enhancing substances, has responded to the punishment in a statement by his legal representative.
The statement began, “It is with sadness and disappointment that Arizona Cardinals linebacker Markus Bailey accepts his suspension under NFL rules” and continued with a statement from Bailey:
“Anyone who knows me knows I would never have purposely taken any banned substance and that I’ve always been very intentional about what I put in my body. I’ve been tested countless times over the course of my NFL and college career and I’ve always been clean. I am accepting the suspension now so that I can put this behind me and get back to the locker room with my brothers as soon as possible this season. I have always been and will always be a clean athlete.”
Accepting it also makes sense on another level. Had Bailey appealed, there likely wouldn’t have been a decision until late in the season or even after it ended. In that case, if the suspension was upheld, some of the games or even all would have carried over until 2025, which would affect his pursuit of a contract because he will be a free agent.
If the Cardinals elect to keep him around, the suspension would end after Week 17, with one game remaining in the season.
The statement included comments from Oliver Catlin, anti-doping expert and President of Banned Substances Control Group (BSCG).
Catlin said, “The trace amount of the banned substance in his urine sample – at low picogram per gram levels—does not suggest a performance enhancing effect. This coupled with the fact Mr. Bailey tested clean less than a month earlier suggests the positive drug test likely came from inadvertent ingestion of a contaminated supplement or medication used between the negative and positive tests. We are continuing to do testing to hunt for the source.”
It ended with words from Bailey’s attorney, Rick Collins, Esq. He said, “The NFL has an unforgiving strict liability policy. Each athlete is responsible for whatever banned substance is detected no matter how it got there. Unlike some other sports, the NFL offers no reduced sanction for food or supplement contamination, which is a common concern. There is no threshold for most banned substances below which results are partially or fully excused in cases of inadvertent ingestion. We are investigating the source of the trace contaminant.”
Bailey’s spot on the practice squad was taken by tackle Charlie Heck, who had been placed on waivers Monday and cleared Tuesday.
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