National Football League

Phony penguin stories gateway drug?

Published Aug. 2, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

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In retrospect, maybe we should have seen it coming.

Ravens cornerback Asa Jackson was suspended for eight games by the NFL on Friday for use of performance-enhancing drugs. It’s Jackson’s second suspension, in just his second NFL season. He was hit with a four-game ban for PEDs last year.

But here’s the thing: When he came into the NFL carrying a fake penguin story, alarms should have gone off.

Jackson’s college bio from Cal Poly carried this line: “Nurses abandoned and injured penguins back to health through Arctic ASPCA.” Now, what could be more heartwarming than that?

But it wasn’t true. The first clue should have been that he’d said “Arctic” instead of “Antarctic,” because penguins inhabit the Southern Hemisphere. Jackson said it was just a goof.

"I wish it was true, but I actually just made that up," Jackson told Pro Football Weekly last year. "Completely made up, fabricated. I'm sorry for anybody out there that likes penguins, but yeah, no, it was just a complete joke."

Anybody that likes penguins? Who doesn’t like penguins?

Someone willing to toy with our penguin emotions might also be willing to skirt league rules. No one saw that at the Scouting Combine? Just sayin’.

In the end, though, maybe it’s just as well Jackson doesn’t work with penguins. Next thing you know, some of them might start to fly.

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