With negotiations to begin a program to test N.F.L. players for human growth hormone at a standstill, 14 members of Congress, led by the former N.F.L. quarterback Heath Shuler, sent a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell and the union chief DeMaurice Smith asking for an explanation of their positions on the test and an expected start date for the testing.
The sides have been in a standoff almost since they agreed in the new collective bargaining agreement to begin blood-testing for H.G.H. this season. At the time, the hope was that testing would begin by the season opener, with what both sides said were details of the testing procedure — like how blood would be procured and transported — to be settled.
Soon after the deal was signed in early August, the union began to question the validity of tests endorsed by the World Anti-Doping Agency and used to test minor league baseball players and athletes in Olympic sports. A meeting with WADA officials in Canada, which Goodell attended but Smith did not, did nothing to move the negotiations along.
“We are therefore disappointed that the testing has not yet begun,” said the letter, which was sent by the Professional Sports Caucus. “It is important that fans, and especially your youngest fans, believe that the N.F.L. is doing all that it can to ensure the integrity of the game and the health of the players. Not testing for H.G.H. given the widespread acceptance of the science underlying it sends the wrong message.”
Until H.G.H. testing begins, the N.F.L. has reverted to its old testing program for performance-enhancing drugs. That program does not include an independent third party to decide appeals of drug suspensions, a right the players won in the new labor deal.
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