Eric Reid wasn’t targeted by the NFL’s drug testing system, the league and NFLPA say
Eric Reid has not been targeted by the NFL’s drug testing system despite what the Carolina Panthers safety suggested during the season, the league and the NFL Players Assn. said Wednesday in a joint statement.
The two groups had asked the independent administrator of the league’s performance enhancing drug policy to review Reid’s claims and produce a report.
According to that report, they stated, “Mr. Reid’s tests were randomly generated via computer algorithm and that his selection for testing was normal when compared with the number of tests players were randomly selected for throughout the league during the time that he was on an active roster.
“There is no evidence of targeting or any other impropriety with respect to his selection for testing.”
Reid has yet to respond to the statement.
In 2016, Reid was one of the first players to join his then-San Francisco 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem before games and continued the protest as a member of the Panthers this season.
The two players also are suing the NFL for collusion. Kaepernick hasn’t been able to find work in the league since opting out of his contract with the 49ers during the 2017 offseason. Reid was a free agent for six months before signing with the Panthers in September.
After a Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints last month, Reid received what he said was a notice for his seventh drug test of the season.
“I’ve been here 11 weeks, I’ve been drug tested seven times. That has to be statistically impossible,” Reid told reporters at the time. “I’m not a mathematician, but there’s no way that’s random.”
Twitter: @chewkiii
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