© Brian Fluharty | 2020 Oct 25
Deebo Samuel is not happy, but not for the reasons you might think.
Samuel expressed frustration at the amount of times he has been randomly selected for PED testing by the NFL this season, claiming on Twitter that he has taken five tests despite being healthy for just three games in 2020.
Only played in 3 games and done get tested for PED 5 times ??♂️. What’s going on
— Deebo (@19problemz) November 9, 2020
Though the NFL has time and again argued that their PED tests are completely random, a situation like Samuel’s is not without precedent. Former 49ers safety Eric Reid said he was tested seven times during an 11-week period during the 2018 season. That was more suspicious than Samuel’s situation due to the fact that Reid was involved in litigation against the NFL at the time, suing the league for collusion alongside Colin Kaepernick.
For Samuel, it’s likely just a strange coincidence. Still, if the random drug testing system is leading to outcomes like this, perhaps it’s time for the league to make some tweaks.