National Football League

Second chance or tainted for life?Texans: Forgive but don't forget Suspended NFL players return

Published Oct. 12, 2010 10:10 a.m. ET

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Call it "Homecoming Weekend" in the NFL with six of the league's most recent prodigal sons coming off four-game suspensions. There are three marquee names in the group and each went down for a different offense:

Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers' two-time winning Super Bowl quarterback, was banished because of repeatedly shameful behavior.

Santonio Holmes, a former Steeler and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player now with the New York Jets, got a month off for presumed recreational drug use.

Brian Cushing of the Texans, last season's Defensive Rookie of the Year winner, failed a drug test for a banned substance, hCG, that's considered a masking agent for steroids.

Have they learned their lesson? Roethlisberger humbly insists he's a changed man. Holmes, for his part, didn't sound the least bit repentant.

After being asked if he had spent any time reflecting on the behavior that cost him a quarter of his first season with the Jets, Holmes said: "Not one percent. I've been the same person since I stepped foot in the NFL, I'll continue being the same person until I leave."

Cushing, of course, continues to maintain his innocence, insisting the hCG found in his system last season got there naturally as a result of his hyper-intense training regimen. That's his story and he's sticking to it, but a price has been paid and it should be a lesson to everyone in the locker room, his teammates say.

Cushing and left tackle Duane Brown, who is halfway through a four-game suspension for a failed performance-enhancing drug test of his own, have been forgiven, but what happened to them must not be forgotten.

"You know these guys' character because you're with them every day, so more than likely it wasn't intentional," said Amobi Okoye, the Texans' first-round draft choice (2007) before Brown (2008) and Cushing (2009). "But no matter what their story is, they're tainted in the public eye, and it definitely makes you a lot more cautious about what you do. If this were to happen to me, I realize that's how people would be looking at me."

Brown will be sorely missed today with his team confronting a New York Giants pass rush that swarmed Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, sacking him nine times in the first half last week. But at least the Texans' defense, which ranks last in the NFL despite the team's 3-1 record, will surely be bolstered by Cushing's presence. And, if one parallel precedent offers anything conclusive in his case, there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to pick up exactly where he left off.

But Shawne Merriman's story line also has ominous overtones.

Although the San Diego Chargers' All-Pro linebacker was suspended for a positive drug test - steroids were reportedly found in his system - during his second season (2006), Merriman returned in spectacular fashion, wreaking havoc with 8Â½ sacks over the final five games - all Chargers victories. He posted 12 more sacks in 2007 to earn his third straight Pro Bowl spot.

Merriman a cautionary tale

If Merriman had been "juicing," and he denies he was, instead blaming a tainted supplement, the failed test presumably forced him to quit without any detriment to his performance - short term. Cushing can only hope what has happened to Merriman the last three seasons isn't prophetic in any way.

Merriman missed all but the first game in 2008 after undergoing surgery to repair two torn knee ligaments. A nagging foot injury limited his effectiveness in 2009, when he managed just four sacks, and 2010 thus far has been a total wash, to the point that there have been reports he'll be released outright if he can't be traded.

Could his precipitous decline be attributed to the effects of PEDs, or his ceasing to use them? One can't assume either. But Merriman's maniacal personality on the field suggested a man obsessed with performance at the expense, possibly, of good judgment.

Okoye admitted he felt a measure of sympathy for his peers, opponents and teammates alike, who succumb to crossing the line.

"Trust me," he said, "the pressure (to perform) in the NFL is crazy, from everybody from the coaches to your mailman. But you've just got to resist it."

These players just say no

Follow a simple rule, said Ephraim Salaam - who's back with the Texans for a 13th NFL season to provide insurance on the offensive line while Brown is banished - and problems will be averted.

"If the team doesn't give it to you," Salaam said, "don't take it."

Despite losing two of their own, the Texans, who were questioned about the NFL's policy of handing down significant suspensions for failed drug tests, agreed the system is fair - and wise.

"I don't want to go up against a guy who's cheating the game," Cushing's fellow linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "I believe the system works. It brings shame upon a player."

Added Salaam: "It's good not only from a competition standpoint but also from a health standpoint. You're already putting your body through enough trauma that you don't need to have things coursing through your blood that may not be healthy."

Defensive end Jesse Nading is a self-described "week-to-week" player, always looking over his shoulder. He's the kind of guy who might be most vulnerable to the urge to sample a banned elixir. Instead, he takes both the short and the long view.

"(A failed drug test) would probably be the end of my career," he said. "And I don't want to do something that might take 20 years off the back end of my life."

dale.robertson@chron.com

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