Rowdy
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- Mar 18, 2019
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Cowboys defensive end Robert Quinn was suspended for the first two games of the 2019 season on Tuesday for a violation of the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy.
Quinn’s agent Sean Kiernan responded to the news with a statement saying that he is “extremely disappointed” by the league’s decision.
Quinn tested positive for probenecid, which is a gout medication that can be used as a steroid masking agent. Kiernan said Quinn never knowingly took probenecid and does not take any supplements, but does take prescription medication to prevent seizures.
Per Kiernan, Dr. John Lombardo, the NFL’s drug advisor for anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, agreed to delay submitting the results to allow for an investigation into how probenecid got into his system. Kiernan says that Quinn’s pharmacy filled an order for it before filling one for Quinn and that the level of the drug in Quinn’s system was too low to be a masking agent, but could not prove contamination “with certainty” at a hearing.
Kiernan said that the NFL admitted during the hearing that they did not believe Quinn was doping intentionally, although that’s not exculpatory as the policy holds players responsible for everything they put in their body. Kiernan still calls the league’s decision “tone deaf” and said he is “disgusted by the actions of NFL attorney Kevin Manara both prior to and during the hearing.”