NFL
RETURN POLICY
AN OBSCURE RULE ALLOWED VON MILLER TO REMAIN WITH THE BRONCOS DURING HIS SUSPENSION. NOW THE STAR LINEBACKER IS ABOUT TO MAKE THE NFL’S BEST TEAM EVEN BETTER. IS THAT FAIR? By David Fleming
ERIC LARS BAKKE
10/28/2013 ES P N T h e M a g a zin e
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Mere minutes after his Broncos teammates finish practice, a shirtless Von Miller, chicken wing in one hand and five playing cards in the other, fills the locker room with his trademark baritone staccato laugh. It seems like business as usual at Denver’s facility, despite the linebacker’s much-publicized offseason problems that resulted in a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Before 2004, suspended players weren’t allowed anywhere near the stadium, the practice facility or, most especially, the sanctity of the team’s locker room. But thanks to a little-known provision in the league’s drug policy, players who have been suspended for less than a year for substance abuse infractions are permitted to continue working closely
with their teams. (The same does not apply to PED violators like Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin, who was banished from Seattle’s facility during his four-game suspension to start this season.) Short of attending practice or games, players suspended for substance abuse can do everything that eligible players can. That includes lifting weights, watching film, receiving treatment, sitting in on team meetings—and chilling in the locker room. By all appearances, Miller, runner-up for the 2012 Defensive Player of the Year award, is taking full advantage of the policy. If you were expecting the 24-year-old linebacker—the most explosive, charismatic defensive player in the league—to be transformed by his troubles into a contrite, embarrassed
persona non grata, think again. On this day, looking rested and relaxed with what appears to be 10 extra pounds of muscle added to his 6'3", 250-pound frame, Miller spends 45 minutes doling out wings, dealing cards, howling with laughter and occasionally breaking away from the card game for a celebratory dance. With the possible exception of his diet, Miller is using his time away from the field wisely. When players move between buildings at the Broncos’ facility, they often see Miller on the practice fields soaked in sweat, powering through an exhaustive series of game-specific football drills in preparation for his Week 7 return on Oct. 20 in Indianapolis. His return can’t come soon enough: After giving up more than 500 total yards and 48
SIDELINED
Shaun Ellis, DE Jets, 2009
Below is a year-by-year breakdown of NFL drug and PED suspensions under commissioner Roger Goodell. At right is a rundown of the 10 Pro Bowlers hit with substance abuse suspensions since ’09.
1
101
GAME
4
GAMES
Kevin Williams, DT Vikings, 2011
Players suspended due to substance abuse Total games missed due to substance abuse Players suspended due to PEDs Total games missed due to PEDs
60
2
GAMES
2
GAMES
50
40
2
4
GAMES
30
20
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013*
Trent Williams, LT Redskins, 2011
Tamba Hali, LB Chiefs, 2012
1
GAME
4
GAMES
Daryl Washington, LB Cardinals, 2013
Von Miller, LB Broncos, 2013
10
2007
Pat Williams, DT Vikings, 2011
Will Smith, LB Saints, 2011
GAMES
2006
Brian Cushing, LB Texans, 2010
6
GAMES
3
GAMES
Jerome Felton, FB Vikings, 2013
points to Dallas in Week 5, the Broncos clearly miss his QB-pressuring edge. “I don’t want to say he’s enjoying being suspended, but he’s maturing,” says fellow Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard. “He’s taking advantage of this opportunity to get better every day. [The policy] has helped him, and us. The locker room would definitely not be the same without having him around here.” Which raises the question: Is this relatively new NFL policy a progressive and humane approach to substance abuse recovery, or is it a loophole that will provide certain teams and players a competitive advantage in the second half of the season? Because of the lingering debate over HGH testing, the NFL is still using the drug policy from the 2006 collective bargaining agreement. The league meets regularly with substance abuse experts, who have recommended that the best course for suspended players like Miller is to maintain the structure and routine provided by the team. “The policy lets these guys stay around their best support group while staying on top of their work-related responsibilities,” says Ernie Conwell, a player advocate for the NFLPA. “It’s a win-win for everyone.” When Jaguars wideout Justin Blackmon was suspended for the first four games of the 2013 season for violating the substance abuse policy (specific details are not released by the league), a relieved coach
MAG MINUTE RAY RICE RAVENS RUNNING BACK What is one thing you did in the past year that you never thought you’d do? I kissed a dolphin. It gave me the tongue and everything! What’s your secret talent? Chess. I fell in love with it in fifth grade. It’s a thinking man’s game. What was the strangest job you ever had? I was the brush boy at a barbershop. I brushed hair off people for tips. Has any album changed your life? Jay Z’s The Blueprint, when I was in middle school. Now I have an appreciation for old rap because it tells a story. The stuff today doesn’t. Which pro athlete would you never want to trade places with? A fullback. All they do is hit. They’re like glorified offensive linemen.
Gus Bradley said keeping the troubled receiver around the team environment was “a great move by the NFL.” Adds Adolpho Birch, the NFL’s senior VP of law and labor policy, “The rule is mindful of the potential for competitive issues, but when it comes to substance abuse, intervention and recovery is our primary aim.” To some extent, Miller has already paid dearly for his indiscretions, which included coaxing a starstruck drug tester into
*AS OF OCT. 8
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illustration by CHIP WASS CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEFT: ICON SMI; ANDREW RICHARDSON/ICON SMI; BRUCE KLUCKHOHN/USA TODAY SPORTS; BRAD MILLS/USA TODAY SPORTS; MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS; SPORTPICS; TOM DIPACE; CHUCK COOK/USA TODAY SPORTS; BILL KOSTROUN/AP IMAGES; JEFF LEWIS/ICON SMI
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After his return, Josh Gordon had his best threegame stretch as a pro (101 yards per game).
swapping out his urine to avoid a failed test. Miller’s diluted sample counted as a positive test, and he initially denied any wrongdoing— until the plot was uncovered when a second collector realized Miller was not actually in the city where his collection was supposed to have taken place. On top of losing more than $800,000 in salary, he is required to return $1.2 million of the $13.8 million signing bonus he received when the Broncos selected him second overall in the 2011 draft. Miller’s teammates have made light of his expensive offseason by plastering the Broncos locker room with pictures of Miller’s face superimposed over the body of a TV commercial character who spews cash all over the place. Jokes aside, Miller and the Broncos might end up benefiting from the linebacker’s suspension. For starters, thanks to Peyton Manning’s blazing start, the Broncos were the most talented of three undefeated teams through Week 5, meaning Miller, who set the franchise record with 18.5 sacks last season, has essentially been allowed to operate for six weeks as the 54th man on the NFL’s best team. He’s even permitted to use his team-issued iPad containing the Broncos’ updated playbook. So when he returns in Week 7 to face Indianapolis, Miller will be fresh, rested, healthy and
“It’sguysa worse punishment for these when they have to face the
teammates they are letting down.” ERNIE CONWELL, NFLPA
fully up to speed as Denver intensifies its Super Bowl run. Meanwhile, the players tasked with blocking Miller will have nearly half a season’s worth of wear and tear on them. The same competitive advantage goes for the Jags’ Blackmon. Instead of getting beaten up by opposing secondaries, the receiver spent his month off getting into great shape. “His body fat has dropped and his weight has gained,” Bradley says. In his first game back, Blackmon had 136 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Rams, the second-best performance of his young career. A similarly rejuvenated Josh Gordon
posted a career-best performance (10 catches, 146 yards and a TD) for the Browns in his first game back from a two-game suspension this season. (He says it was for codeine prescribed for strep throat.) With 303 receiving yards through Week 5, Gordon had pieced together his best three-game stretch as a pro. In the new era of heightened awareness of player health and safety, the league continues to struggle to find a balance between care and competition. Case in point: After Aldon Smith was arrested on suspicion of DUI on Sept. 20, the 49ers had their best pass rusher play in a game before
RICH GABRIELSON/ICON SMI
PLAYBOOK
NFL
announcing he would leave the team to seek treatment. In such cases, the league still leaves it to each team’s discretion whether to allow a player to continue showing up for work. Many teams use banishment from the facility as an additional punitive tool or as a way to send a message to the rest of the roster. The practice is so common, in fact, that the league and the NFLPA must constantly remind clubs of the 2006 provision
that allows teams to keep players around. By keeping Miller in the fold, the Broncos are trying to help him straighten out after a series of off-the-field run-ins. There was his arrest in August while trying to purchase a firearm near the Broncos training facility; a mandatory background check revealed outstanding warrants related to multiple traffic citations. There was, only a few weeks later, a citation for speeding and
driving without a license. And, of course, there was the urine swap, which led to the six-game suspension. Miller’s rocky offseason landed him in Stage 3 of the NFL’s policy, meaning he can be subjected to unannounced testing up to 10 times per month for the remainder of his career. “I know what I think of Von Miller, what we think of Von Miller as a person,” Broncos boss John Elway said after the suspension was first
announced. “We’re not trying to put the toothpaste back in the toothpaste bottle. It’s moving on from here and hopefully trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Another violation would result in a suspension for a minimum of one calendar year, at which point Miller would be separated from the team. The NFLPA’s Conwell, a former NFL tight end, says staying with the team in the short term is a powerful
preventive measure to that outcome. “It’s a worse punishment for these guys—and it drives the point home even better—when they have to face the teammates they are letting down every day,” he says. Rested and ready to return, Miller is about to start giving back. That’s good news for everybody— except for the poor guys who’ll have to block him. Says Woodyard, “It’s gonna be real ugly.”
FOR LOVE OR THE GAME
WHO KNOWS BRONCOS RECEIVER ERIC DECKER BETTER: DEMARYIUS THOMAS, HIS TEAMMATE, OR JESSIE JAMES, HIS MUSIC-ARTIST WIFE AND CO-STAR OF THEIR E! REALITY SERIES, ERIC & JESSIE: GAME ON? TO FIND OUT, WE GOT ERIC TO DISH, THEN HAD HIS BETTER HALF AND HIS BUDDY DUKE IT OUT. BECAUSE LIFE IS NOT A GO ROUTE. —AS TOLD TO SAM ALIPOUR Question
His answer
What they said
FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE?
My hair. I had a mullet when I was 5. I love long hair.
JESSIE He loves his hair.
5
DEMARYIUS His face, but he always talks about his abs.
0
CELEBRITY CRUSH BEFORE JESSIE?
Jennifer Aniston. She’s older but still my crush.
JESSIE He loves Jennifer Aniston.
5
DEMARYIUS Scarlett Johansson.
0
AS A PRO, MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT?
Last October when I tripped in San Diego.
JESSIE The San Diego game. He tripped after the catch.
5
DEMARYIUS The time he was wide open and tripped.
5
FAVORITE SONG TO SING IN THE SHOWER?
Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden.”
JESSIE He was singing a Selena Gomez song recently.
0
DEMARYIUS Rihanna’s “Rude Boy.”
0
WHO WEARS THE PANTS?
Definitely me. We’re traditional.
JESSIE Definitely Eric. He likes to be the boss.
5
DEMARYIUS Jessie. Yep, for sure.
0
LEAST LIKELY TO APPEAR ON WHICH REALITY SERIES?
Any of the Real Housewives. I can’t handle that.
JESSIE Any Housewives show.
5
DEMARYIUS Real Husbands of Hollywood.
0
WHO KNOWS DECKER BEST?
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Score
Total
JESSIE
25
DEMARYIUS
5
Analysis
Love conquers all. Jessie leaves Demaryius in the dust, proving that this marriage never has a bye week.
illustration by JOSUE EVILLA FROM TOP: JACK DEMPSEY/AP IMAGES; JOHN LEYBA/DENVER POST/AP IMAGES; RON CHENOY/USA TODAY SPORTS (2)