Charles Rogers Substance Abuse?????

[marshallrider]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfldraft/story?id=1538495

Sources: Rogers test reveals masking agent
ESPN.com news services

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Wide receiver Charles Rogers, likely to be one of the top picks in the upcoming April 26 NFL draft, has tested positive for a masking agent administered at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Sunday.


The masking agent is designed to dilute one's urine and is likely to land Rogers in the evaluation stage of the league's substance-abuse program.

Rogers averaged 20.4 yards per catch and scored 25 times in his two seasons with Michigan State. He is considered one of two blue-chip wide receiver prospects in the draft, along with Miami's Andre Johnson. Rogers scored a touchdown in a Big 10-record 13 consecutive games.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

You beat me too it...

Is the next Randy Moss really the next randy Moss?

 

[Mr. Boldin]

If this is true will he drop? What will Mooch think about this. Ill take him at #6 if nobody else wants him

 

[asugrad96]

So let's see, Newman now has a pretty serious shoulder condition, Rogers may be on drugs, Suggs may be slow and unruly and we already had a top five running back blow out his knee a few months ago. I can't remeber the last time there was so much shuffling at the top this close to the draft. Carson now appears to be the only sure thing.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Well how about we trade for 3 first round picks... get Rogers, Leftwich, and Suggs.. Then why not draft Talman Gardner so we can have a big smoke out during the WR drills...

 

[Ryanwb]

Who let Nate Newton mentor these rookies?

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[SECTION 11]

Originally posted by asugrad96
So let's see, Newman now has a pretty serious shoulder condition, Rogers may be on drugs, Suggs may be slow and unruly and we already had a top five running back blow out his knee a few months ago. I can't remeber the last time there was so much shuffling at the top this close to the draft. Carson now appears to be the only sure thing.

Don't forget about Lefty's bad leg and beer gut.


Well, and DeJuan Groce's trouble with his assignments in zone coverage.

 

[Tangodnzr]

I would doubt this would affect the Lions enough to not draft him.
I haven't read any of the articles on it, but there are several factors that would need to be known by the Lions or anyone drafting him. eg...what exactly was the "masking substance", etc..sometimes there are legal chemicals that can give positive results on tests like that.
I would also guess that something like this would throw some red flags up, but not necessarily bounce him down.

 

[JeffGollin]

I heard a rumor that Carson Palmer has bad breath...

 

[WizardOfAz]

April 15, 2003


Rogers’ agent reacts

ProFootballWeekly.com asks associate editor Mike Wilkening for his thoughts on the hottest topics around the NFL:

Agent: Rogers' positive test a result of too much water

Trying to quell the bad publicity from a published report that said Michigan State WR Charles Rogers had tested positive for a urine masking agent at the league’s Scouting Combine, Rogers' agent, Kevin Poston, said the positive test was a result of the wide receiver drinking an excessive amount of water in order to produce a urine sample.

“Charles Rogers had to urinate at the Combine, about 5:30 or 6:30 in the morning. He could not urinate in front of everybody,” Poston told The Detroit News. “They gave him about four or five big bottles of water. They would not allow him to leave the room until he urinated. All they found was a diluted sample, which is excess water. There was nothing positive in terms of any drugs.” The paper reported Rogers and Poston spent Monday afternoon meeting with Lions brass.

NFL policy prohibits drinking an excessive amount of water to dilute one’s urine. In a letter sent to Pittsburgh CB Torrie Cox, another player who claims to have failed the test for a reason similar to Rogers’, NFL doctor Lawrence Brown wrote, according to ESPN: “Dilute specimens are often the result of drinking extraordinarily large amounts of fluid prior to the provision of a urine specimen. A willful attempt to consume large amounts of liquid to avoid detection of a substance prohibited by the National Football League is treated as a violation equivalent to a positive test under the National Football League Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.

Rogers is expected to go in the top two picks of the draft. Cox was the No. 18-ranked cornerback in PFW's 2003 Draft Preview.




PFW: Is Rogers’ explanation plausible?

Wilkening: Very much so. Oregon RB Onterrio Smith told me at the Combine that four to five pounds on his 220-pound frame was water he drank to complete the urinalysis test.

“I couldn’t go right away, so I had to drink a ton of water, and that pretty much bloated me up,” he said.

I would be much more leery of the positive test if it were for an over-the-counter masking agent. To me, that’s more of a “willful attempt” to deceive than drinking an “excessive amount” of water. I’m also not sure what constitutes “excessive,” or what the league’s metric is for measuring that.

PFW: Will Rogers drop in the draft?

Wilkening: I don’t think so. The Lions are not trying to hide how much they want to draft him. I don’t see him dropping past them at No. 2. Rogers, like anyone else who is tested, deserves the benefit of the doubt if there is any question as to the result of the test. His record, to this point, has been clean, by all accounts.

However, the Lions may do more research on Rogers, as has been suggested. And why not? The No. 2 pick does not come cheap, and before a team makes such an investment, it needs to be well assured that it's getting what it wants.

If the Lions have some qualms about the positive test but still feel Rogers is too talented to pass up, look for the team to tie up more money in incentives than normal for such a high pick.

 

[SECTION 11]

One gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds, and each cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds.

Note that a quarter pound of hamburger takes one gallon of water to process.


Also note that a "typical" fair weather cumulus cloud "weighs" about 1 billion 400 million pounds, or about 800 million pounds less than dry air of equal volume.