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Five CFL prospects test positive for PEDs with few consequences: a policy problem?

Andrew Bucholtz
Saint Mary's linebacker Jonathan Langa (centre), the 2014 Presidents' Trophy winner as CIS defensive player of the year, was one of five CFL prospects who failed a test this year for performance-enhancing drugs, but he was still drafted 20th overall by Hamilton and won't miss any games.

Five Canadian university football players tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the CFL's regional and national combines in March, but if they make it to the CFL, they're not going to miss any playing time. Justin Dunk reports at 3 Down Nation that the failed tests came from CIS linebackers Jonathan Langa, Marvin Golding, defensive back Kayin Marchand-Wright, receiver Melvin Abankwah (all from the Saint Mary's Huskies) and receiver Matthew Norzil (from the Laval Rouge et Or). Langa tested positive for the anabolic steroids stanozolol (the steroid Ben Johnson was busted for in the Seoul Olympics, and the one current Calgary DT Quinn Smith was caught taking last year) and methandienone, Abankwah tested positive for methandienone, and the other three players tested positive for SARMS S-22, a selective androgen receptor modulator that can provide similar effects to steroids. Add that to Smith's test last year and the three other players who reportedly tested positive at last year's Edmonton regional combine, and we have a whole wave of doping violations amongst CFL prospects.

All of the five players involved this year have reportedly accepted the results of the test. They've also e-mailed CFL teams to apologize for them, saying they took these drugs unintentionally through supplements. As Dunk writes, though, while these tests will likely end these players' CIS careers, they likely won't miss any CFL time if they're drafted:

All five players have CIS eligibility remaining, but are expected to be banned from competition for four years by the CCES, effectively ending their university careers.

Despite their positive tests, all five players are still eligible to be drafted by a CFL team and could play as soon as this season. Defensive tackle Quinn Smith tested positive for stanozolol during the 2014 CFL Combine but he was nonetheless drafted seventh overall by the Calgary Stampeders and played in 11 games last season.

According the CFL’s drug policy, a CIS player who tests positive for a banned substance enters the league with a first violation, which subjects him to mandatory testing. A second positive test results in a three-game suspension.

That raises questions about if the current CFL policies are strict enough. As written here last year when Smith failed a drug test at the combine, being subject to extra mandatory testing isn't much of a penalty. Draft stock doesn't seem all that affected by these tests, either; sure, Smith might have gone higher without that test, but he was still taken in the first round despite it. Yes, a second offence will trigger a three-game suspension, so if players keep using, there are consequences. Moreover, while the CIS penalties are harsher, often resulting in multi-year suspensions, much of the drug testing of football players at the CIS level happens at the combines. A essentially-free first strike might mean that players are incentivized to take steroids to build muscles during their time in CIS (particularly during their final season), then apologize and stop once they get caught. That's what Stampeders' defensive back Jeff Hecht, Stampeders' punter Rob Maver, and media members Monty Mosher and Kent Ridley discussed on Twitter Thursday:

It's notable that these are players more on the margins than Smith was last year. None of them were ranked in the CFL's final top-20 prospects list. Langa did win the Presidents' Trophy as CIS' top (non-lineman) defensive player this season, and he did have a very impressive college career, so he was likely at least a mid-round pick before this, but he and Abankwah were the only two of these players to attend the national combine. The other failed tests came at the regional combine in Montreal. Thus, it's quite possible that at least one of these players may never play in the CFL. They also have restricted CFL teams' options with them; teams sometimes like to draft players, have them finish their CIS career and then pick them up again later, but that won't be possible if these players receive CIS bans. Still, if any of these players are drafted and make a CFL team this year, they won't miss any time as a result of these drug tests.

Performance-enhancing drugs have been an issue in CIS for quite some time, and the testing situation's actually improved significantly from what it was thanks to the CFL (which pays for many of the tests of top CIS football players, allowing CIS resources to be spent elsewhere). We also haven't seen anything as widespread as the Waterloo case since 2010 (although it's certainly not good to see four positive tests from one school, Saint Mary's). The CFL situation has also improved; this was a league that didn't have a drug testing policy until the 2010 CBA, so the current one, flawed as it may be, is still a step forward. With that said, though, the current light punishment for a first offence doesn't seem like much of a deterrent. If the CFL wants its drug policy to be taken seriously and wants to have a fair playing field, the league and the players' association should work together to see if they can agree on stiffer drug-testing penalties that might be more of a deterrent.