U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chair Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Thursday reached out to the NFL, NFLPA and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency "to broker a meeting about the league's stalled testing program" for HGH, according to Juliet Macur of the N.Y. TIMES. Issa and Cummings, whose committee also investigated steroid use in MLB, plan to "discuss the initiation of HGH testing" in the NFL. The meeting "would be closed to the public." The representatives said that the purpose of the meeting "was to understand the concerns of the league and the union regarding HGH testing and to 'strongly convey our universal interest in protecting the health of millions of younger athletes across the country'" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/30). The AP's Antonio Gonzalez noted Congress is "stepping up its efforts to push the NFL and its players toward an agreement" on a testing plan (AP, 9/29). USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell notes the committee stopped "short of calling for hearings as it did" in '05 with MLB, and "hopes the meetings are an impetus for a resolution" (USA TODAY, 9/30).
TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY: A USA TODAY editorial states, "If the union had so many objections to the current testing regime, it shouldn't have agreed 'in principle' to start testing." The editorial: "At minimum, it should propose an alternative. The proposed program is modest. Far from testing every player, every game, it would start with weekly unannounced tests of five to 10 players on three clubs -- all randomly chosen" (USA TODAY, 9/30). The union in a letter sent to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell earlier this month states the NFLPA is "unequivocally committed to ensuring that football is played by men who do not use performance enhancing drugs." The letter continues, "The players simply want to thoroughly understand the scientific data that WADA uses to set the decision limit" before implementing testing in the league (USA TODAY, 9/30).
