De Smith says players will not be 'bullied' on HGH testing

The NFL and NFLPA agreed to implement HGH testing when it put together the latest CBA back in 2011.

What they have not been able to agree on since is just how they are going to go about doing that.

The impasse continues with plenty of rhetoric from both sides on the matter. The players maintain they are all for it but they want to make sure a mistake-proof system is in place. They dont want a testing process that could create erroneous results.

Congress has occasionally stuck its head in on the matter and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said he had issues with what Maryland Dem. Elijah Cummings had to say on the matter.

Heres where we are on HGH testing, we agreed with the league that wed work together to find an HGH test that was not only accurate, but one that afforded the players fair due process, Smith told D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I certainly was disappointed by Congressman Cummings statements earlier today and if there is any body on the planet, who understands put up or shut up its the players of the National Football League.

Cummings is a member of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform and the committee has been working to push through HGH testing in the NFL. Smith said the players are not going to be forced into a testing system they do not believe in.

The reality of this is, the collective bargaining agreement means that both sides have to come to an agreement, Smith said. And, neither the league, nor anyone else will bully us into a testing regiment that isnt fair.

Its probably fair to wonder if our elected members in Washington have more important issues to tackle than the game of tackle football.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune

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De Smith says players will not be 'bullied' on HGH testing