As if things couldn't get any worse for the free-falling New York Giants; the team's big free-agent acquisition, wide receiver Golden Tate, has been suspended 4 NFL games for failing a performance-enhancing drug test. Here's the kicker: the substance that was found in his system is a prescribed fertility drug, to help with, you guessed it, aiding in the cause of getting his partner pregnant. The toughest of breaks.
ESPN's Adam Schefter broke the news on behalf of the player, league and Giants' organization. Tate for his part is optimistic he'll be able to appeal the ban without much trepidation. These were his immediate thoughts.
"This past April, during the off-season, my wife and I decided to see a specialist for fertility planning. I started the treatment prescribed to me and just days later I discovered it contained an ingredient that is on the league's banned substance list," Tate said in a statement to press. "I immediately discontinued use, I reported the situation to the Independent Administrator of the NFL Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances, and I spoke with my coaches and general manager."
Tate's 4-game ban might be a telltale sign the NFL's drug policy is in need of an amendment or two, or at the very least - a more latent approach in handling these nuanced situations. If anything, Golden Tate might be culpable of not doing his homework before accepting the prescription, or of notifying team officials of plausible interference with molecular compounds that exist in other PEDs. For the sake of humankind, I do hope Golden Tate wins his appeal. There are bigger things in life than the game of football.