NFL players are paid handsomely for their great performances. But tweeting about being randomly drug tested by the league after such a big performance could be costly.
The NFL announced a series of updates to its Substances of Abuse Policy (SOA) and Performance Enhancing Substances (PES) on Thursday. Among these changes was a new rule allowing players to be fined $15,000 for “recording and posting collection processes on social media.”
Why do we need such rules?
In recent years, players have posted on social media that they have been notified of unannounced testing for PEDs and other substances after great performances during games, and their accomplishments are so believable that they need to undergo drug testing. and posted what the league believes. The fact is that the test is random and the player's name is randomly selected for the test days or even weeks in advance, so it has nothing to do with what the player did the day before.
But the league appears to have decided it's time to take action, since posting about the tests on social media makes it seem like the league is running some kind of punitive and shady operation.
The whole premise doesn't make sense. The NFL relies on players performing incredible athletic feats on the football field to the delight of fans, who maintain high viewership and revenue. Why would they want to punish someone just because they played well?
In any case, the player was given $15,000 as an excuse not to post about the drug test.
