Since Rogers and Merriman have now been suspended by the NFL, why isn't this as big of a deal as baseball? It's clearly obvious that many, many NFL players are using. Is it just because the NFL didn't cover things up?

sweet counter-thread

There was a brief editorial about this in a recent SI. The basic conclusion there was that the NFL is so huge and obviously the #1 sport in the States that no matter what their players do to lower themselves to the level of other pro sports (arrests, steroids, etc.) the American public seems to turn a blind eye.

Which isn't really different than the way I look at the MLB controversy. I like the sport, period. Unless games themselves are fixed, I'm not going to stop enjoying it.

I've started to come to this conclusion. I'd love to have full belief that these games are being won without the aid of steroids or who knows what, but I'm not going to stop watching any of them at this point. It's sad that it's come to that, but so it goes.

Until a high profile NFL player is caught with steroids, it's not gonna be a big deal. Linebackers and lineman, these guys are huge as it is. It's almost as if fans don't care if they take steroids because they're all huge anyway. If you have a Tom Brady or Peyton Manning caught with steroids it would be a huge deal and the media and fans would jump all over it. Also, baseball is very popular because of history and stats. When you have the history and stats being tainted, then the whole appeal of the sport becomes tainted

The Rookie Defensive Player of the Year isn't a high profile name? Sure it wasn't Peyton Manning, but christ...Curt Schilling ain't a Hall of Famer either.

Probably because he was found through the proper channels. I know Sanchez was too, but there has been so much subversion with roids and baseball over the past couple of years (thanks in large part to Raffy) that trust has eroded.

I also think that to some degree, everybody kind of expects NFLers to be using. It kind of seems ingrained in the game. If everybody is doing it, is it still cheating?

I'd argue yes. If the NFLPA wanted it legal, it would be.

I get to see the AU players in street clothes. These linemen are freaks of nature. What percent of lineman/line-backers/running backs do you think in D1 college football use some type of growth hormone? I think the usage has to start at the college level to even make a NFL team.

dude, peyton's a jerk. nobody would care.

It's a high profile name for big football fans but to the average fan he's just some jacked-up linebacker

i think a big part of why football seems to get a pass on this stuff is the numbers in football aren't "holy" like baseball numbers are. there's no football equivalent, that I can think of, of the single season home run record, apart from maybe the rushing touchdown record, but even that is dependent on so many more variables (that is, other players) than baseball stats.
Not that i'm saying football should get a pass, but i think that's why it generally does - if these guys were, say, milton bradley and geoff jenkins, the media would still be going hogwild because it's baseball and steroids

you know who else they should test....lamont jordan

anyone see the end of the broncs-raiders game..when he screwed up and blew the game (kinda)

he was on the ground..punchin the ground..clinchin towels, shakin like crazy..yellin..this went on for like 15 mins too..if that wasnt a fuckin roid rage i dont know what was

fuckin jordans arms were like as big as my legs..he just looked like a mean muther fucker..me and my buddy were like could you imagine fuckin with that guy

i would say that the only equivelent stats between the two sports would be in home runs, say the 600 club is the same as the 2000 yd club

I don't even think that is comparable. Ask a sports fan who are the top 3 home run hitters of all time and they'll answer it in 2 seconds. Same goes for home runs in a season. Ask a sports fan the top 3 rushing leaders of all time and they'll struggle. Ask them who has the most yards in one season and they'll struggle even more.

Does anyone think that the NFL should do more regarding steroids? If so, what should they do?

the world series usually pawns all other sports, coverage wise

the fins need to start taking more roids

Their random testing is good, much better than baseball has. The 4 game suspension is so-so, i think it should be 6 games and then a year suspension. It's tough to gauge though with all these weird supplements that can make you come up positive. HGH is a big problem though and has to be dealt with. I think the rest of the sports are waiting for the NFL to do something first before they follow suit.