“Looking at the NFL drug program, I think they haven’t really touched it in a lot of years because it’s kind of been the one thing when you’re collectively bargaining that it kind of gets put to the end and then when you’re close on a deal you just say, ‘Ah, let’s just leave it how it’s been,’ rather than actually work on maybe some issues that are there,” Thomas said Thursday night after the Browns’ 33-13 win over the Chicago Bears in the preseason finale. “The problem is that now you’re sitting in a situation where you have a collective bargaining agreement that lasts 10 years, and in the middle of it, nobody’s going to want to go back to the bargaining table and try to hash out things that may be an issue, as they clearly are on a number of different levels, but that are only going to affect a couple of people.
“I think there’s a resistance from management of the NFL and also from the players association to do that type of needed updating of the drug policy because obviously there’s some oversights when they wrote the program and some cultural changes that have happened that I don’t think the program accurately reflects the morals of society today and the NFL and pro sports in general.”
Thomas also referenced a complaint many fans have raised about the NFL’s policies.
Under the NFL’s personal conduct policy, Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice two games for assaulting his then-fiancee and current wife in February. Gordon, a repeat offender of the substance-abuse policy, won’t even be eligible to apply for reinstatement into the league until, at the earliest, the upcoming season concludes.
“Obviously [NFL] Commissioner [Roger Goodell] got a lot of flack for what happened with Ray Rice, and I think with the discipline policy he has cart blanche to do whatever he wants,” Thomas said. “But with the drug policy, that’s collectively bargained. Until him and [NFLPA Executive Director] DeMaurice Smith actually want to get together and fix some of it, I think we’re going to be stuck with an outdated policy.”
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