Whether you like it or not, Brian Cushing retained his award as the 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year. The AP was forced to do a re-vote for the title because of the initiative of some NFL players and teams to forfeit his title. This is due to Cushing’s 4-game suspension as a result of a failed steroid test. Many were expecting that the award will be given to Buffalo Jairus Byrd. But expect the unexpected, Cushing won the voting again.

Some media members who voted for Cushing received not so good comments from fellow media members. Others questioned them why despite the use of performance enhancing drug, they still voted for the Texan linebacker. Austin Murphy of Sports Illustrated is one of those who were not happy about the results of the re-vote. “Memo to the 18 AP voters who let Brian Cushing keep his award, despite clear PED use: You should be drug-tested yourselves,” said Murphy on his twitter account. Peter King, who is also covering the NFL did not like what happened. “Woke up with a sick feeling about Cushing re-winning. Won’t go away,” he said.

One sports analyst said that the result could be a sign that many of the stakeholders in the league are now acknowledging the prevalent use of performance enhancers and its use does not concern any moral issues anymore.

The head of the NFLPA DeMaurice Smith issued a statement a few days ago condemning the use of steroids and other PED’s in the sport. “Sport is at its best when fans can witness great achievements under the rules of fair play. Players who break those rules cheat the game, cheat the fans and cheat themselves. The players want a clean game as well as a clean process for enforcing those rules. We intend to address both in the collective bargaining process to make the system better,” Smith said.

However, allowing Brian Cushing to play in the entire season has drawn criticism from some experts. Dr. Gary Wadler of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) and an associate professor of medicine at New York university told the New York Daily News that allowing Cushing to still play even he was tested positive for steroids demeaned the anti-doping policies of the sport. “It is so far beyond the pale that it negates the intent of the policy,” he said. “[Cushing] gets tested in September and plays the whole season? He played so well he was named defensive rookie of the year? Then it is announced that he was taking a performance-enhancing drug? That doesn’t make sense… It makes a mockery of the anti-doping process,” Wadler added.

Although this was explained by the league saying that due process was followed in Cushing’s case. In a statement released by the league, “It’s not unusual for some cases to take a lengthy amount of time from specimen collection through the appeals process and the announcement.” They also added that all of the time periods and protocols in place are designed to ensure that the result is accurate and the player has every appropriate due process protection.

Another issue is the leakage of the result to the media. It was reported that the substance found on Cushing’s system was hCG or human chorionic gonadotropin. HCG is a fertility drug used to elevate testosterone level after a steroid cycle.

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