System fail? Dwyer says known ADD drug flagged him
On his Facebook page, running back Jonathan Dwyer posted a video diary of his combine adventures from February. Dwyer had a handheld camera and his face fit tightly onto the screen. In the beginning of the diary he walked down a hallway and described his schedule for the day. "Just got done with my drug testing," he says.
Dwyer had no idea just how adventurous that drug test would make his life in the near future.
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| Jonathan Dwyer warns NFL teams not to doubt him. (Getty Images) |
Dwyer is a running back from Georgia Tech who likely will go somewhere in the second round. Recently, FoxSports.com reported Dwyer tested positive for amphetamines.
This is where the story gets complicated and unusual. In an interview with CBSSports.com on Tuesday, Dwyer says his medication for Attention Deficit Disorder is what triggered the positive test.
Dwyer's agent, Robert London, the vice president of Dow Lohnes Sports, says all NFL teams were notified before the combine that Dwyer was on the ADD medication. Dwyer himself says coaches going back to high school knew he was using the ADD medicine. Dwyer said he's actually taken it since childhood.
According to Dwyer, the confusion over his failed test stems from a league doctor forgetting to remove Dwyer from the banned substance list. Dwyer says his situation was a therapeutic use exemption. Two league sources familiar with Dwyer's test results who asked for anonymity said the same thing.
None of this is an endorsement or refuting of Dwyer's or other sources' claims. And the fact that last sentence was written says a lot about our overall skepticism when it comes to drugs and sports. Dwyer is a casualty of a generation of athletes and leagues lying to us about performance enhancing drugs from the NFL in the 1980s and beyond to the pumped up disgrace that was baseball in the 1990s.
Again, this doesn't mean Dwyer is or isn't telling the truth. It's just another indicator that as sports fans and media we remain bitter about athletes' claims of drug innocence no matter how much sense those claims of innocence make.
"What happened to me isn't really fair," said Dwyer in a telephone interview. "It's wrong. The way it was first presented by the media like I did something wrong. I didn't. The league knew about this. It's just that the media is now finding out. The media lumped me in with other guys."
Dwyer is referring to USC tight end Anthony McCoy, who tested positive at the combine for marijuana, according to FoxSports.com. Both Dwyer and McCoy were named in the same report.
"All I can now is work hard and shut people up," Dwyer said. "Everyone who has doubted me is going to regret it. Teams that pass me up will regret it."
Did the report hurt Dwyer's stock? Probably not. The irony is that several teams were more concerned about Dwyer's weight than they were drug test results (those weight concerns have since been alleviated, Dwyer explained). There's a chance Dwyer goes to Houston in the second round and it's possible he actually moves up team's boards as the draft gets closer.
Dwyer is a tempting target who averaged over 6 yards a carry in college. He's been compared to Jonathan Stewart, and that's not a bad comparison.
NFL sources who've met Dwyer say he was one of the more grounded prospects they interviewed at the combine. Dwyer says he's exhausted and ready to get the draft done.
"It seems like I've already played six or seven games," he laughed.
