NFL Fines Shanahan Over Henry Case Comments

[Lonestar]

CBS4 Broncos Insiders

DENVER (AP) ― The NFL has fined Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan $25,000 for his comments about running back Travis Henry's appeal of a one-year drug suspension.

The NFL informed Henry in September that he failed a test for marijuana. He sued the NFL to avoid a suspension and won his appeal Tuesday.

Henry argued that the league violated its substance abuse policy by not allowing an expert of his choosing to be present for the testing.

Shanahan supported Henry's appeal, saying he was convinced of his innocence after the player passed a polygraph test and had a hair sample come back negative for marijuana.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail that Shanahan was fined by the commissioner "for inappropriate public comments about the substance abuse program in violation of league rules."

Broncos spokesman Dave Gaylinn declined to comment on the fine after the team's practice Friday. He said any statements would come from the league's office.

The league has called Henry's defense of hair samples and lie detector tests "irrelevant and unconvincing," but said the substance program is based on the highest standards and respecting players' rights. League officials said Henry will remain in the league's substance abuse program. He served a four-game drug-related suspension while with the Tennessee Titans in 2005.

The Broncos signed Henry to a five-year, $22.5 million free agent contract that included $12 million in guarantees this offseason after the Titans released him in a cost-cutting move.

He's had a rocky season. Besides battling the suspension, Henry has struggled with injuries. He led the league in rushing early in the year before missing games because of sore ribs and a slightly torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Henry returned Dec. 2 in a 34-20 loss to Oakland, carrying the ball 15 times for 49 yards and two touchdowns. He also lost a fumble, and had another bound away when he and Jay Cutler messed up a handoff exchange

[Escobar]

First the ravens now shanahan 25k? Nfl don't play do they...

[omac]

It was worth the 25K; Shanny's comments definitely helped Henry's case, and that's why the NFL is pissed. Good that they're respectful of players' rights now that the spotlights been shined on them.

[Lonestar]

It was worth the 25K; Shanny's comments definitely helped Henry's case, and that's why the NFL is pissed. Good that they're respectful of players' rights now that the spotlights been shined on them.


Did you notice in the article that they denied that with proof of those tests had anything to do with the reason for not suspending him..

And the tidbit about him STILL BEING in the program..

That folks could be a really good incentive for the clown to stay away from any environments that could be bad for him to be in.

[omac]

Did you notice in the article that they denied that with proof of those tests had anything to do with the reason for not suspending him..

And the tidbit about him STILL BEING in the program..

That folks could be a really good incentive for the clown to stay away from any environments that could be bad for him to be in.

They can deny anything they want, but I feel Shanahan's comments regarding their own tests put pressure on the NFL not to bulldoze over a player's rights.

Him still being in the program ... well, Goodell can change the rules anytime he wants.

Chris Henry (of the Titans) is serving a 4 game suspension for a substance that last season wasn't even on the league's list of unapproved substances. When he suspended Pacman (probably rightfully so), he tried to stop him from doing pro-wrestling entertainment. Goodell is very effective, but he needs someone or a group to keep him in check, because he is something of a dictator.

[topscribe]

I'm sure Shanny expected a fine, and I'm sure he would do it again.

I admire him for the way he stands behind his men when he feels they're in the right.

-----

[TXBRONC]

Ok he got fined for speaking out. I haven't lost any respect for him.

[broncosfanscott]

So he got fined for speaking out and standing up for his players when he thinks they are right............don't have a problem with that and like it when a coach does that for his players.

I am not surprised over the fine because in sports now a days you seem to get fined when you speak your mind on anything.

[Stargazer]

I'm sure Shanny expected a fine, and I'm sure he would do it again.

I admire him for the way he stands behind his men when he feels they're in the right.

-----

25K is nothing.

This looks good for potential FA's/draftees/UDFA/etc. Their coach will go to bat for them. That is all a player could ever want.

[BroncoBJ]

What a joke. I kind of like it when people get fined. Just like the Ravens. If I played for the Ravens I'd keep talking and keep getting fined. I tell it like it is. :salute:

NFL is a joke. They want to act like thier so cool because they can fine people. :coffee:

[Nomad]

I'm glad to see Shanahan sticking up for his players. The only thing is that I hope Henry doesn't let him down on the field and off the field. I am not a big fan of Henry but it says alot about Shanahan to stick his neck out for him and I know he'd do it for the other men on the team. As far as the fine, it's the GFL (Goodell Football League) and I guess we'll have to get use to it. The refs and league are always right, end of story.:rolleyes:

[broncofanatic1987]

They can deny anything they want, but I feel Shanahan's comments regarding their own tests put pressure on the NFL not to bulldoze over a player's rights.

Him still being in the program ... well, Goodell can change the rules anytime he wants.

Chris Henry (of the Titans) is serving a 4 game suspension for a substance that last season wasn't even on the league's list of unapproved substances. When he suspended Pacman (probably rightfully so), he tried to stop him from doing pro-wrestling entertainment. Goodell is very effective, but he needs someone or a group to keep him in check, because he is something of a dictator.

It was the Titans that filed the injunction to prevent Jones from participating in any wrestling related activity that could lead to an injury.

Someone like Goodell is necessary for the NFL because of all the knuckleheads that keep screwing up. The NFL has to compete with four other sports for fans and it would be nice if they can do that without boneheads going out and getting arrested every five minutes or testing positive for illegal substances. Perhaps you haven't noticed Congress' recent penchant for sticking it's nose in where it doesn't belong. It wasn't too long ago that MLB was testifying before Congress about steroid use among it's players. The NFL has to stay ahead of the curve before Congress starts messing with them too, not just for steroids and HGH, but player conduct as well. The NFL has the biggest problem with players' off field conduct among the major sports. If Goodell is smart, he'll lead the charge to help with players' pensions and health care for past players before Congress gets too aggressive on that issue. They've already started to stick their noses into that. The bottom line is that it's just good business to hold employees/players to a high standard. Organizations are sometimes blind to mitigating circumstances in an effort to enforce high standards and that's what probably got Henry into the mess he was in this season.

The NFL wanted to enforce it's standards and was rightfully skeptical of Henry's explanation for the positive test. Second hand smoke was not the reason for the positive test. It was obviously a false positive, but they didn't know that at the time. Believing they had a true positive test for a banned substance, they took the appropriate steps to initiate disciplinary action. Henry won his appeal and we will never know if it was because Shanahan made the evidence of Henry's innocence public or not. Maybe Henry would have still won the appeal if everything had remained behind closed doors. I'm not going to presume to be so smart that I know one way or the other as to whether he would have been suspended or not based on whether or not the evidence of his innocence became public. I don't blame the NFL for denying that the hair sample and the polygraph results were influential in the decision to not suspend Henry. Those things are at the heart of what was made public and the NFL wants to maintain an image of making it's decisions based on facts rather than pressure from public scrutiny.

As far as the NFL not adhering to it's own rules goes, the rule is that they have to test the B sample within ten days of a positive test on the A sample. The player is given a list of approved representatives that can be present at the testing of the B sample. It's my understanding that Henry did not choose a representative from that list and instead chose one that is not approved based on the fact that the representative was affiliated with a laboratory or perhaps an inappropriate laboratory. The bottom line is that the representative did not meet the criteria agreed upon by the league and the NFLPA. Why should Henry or any other player be allowed to try to invalidate a test by choosing an inappropriate representative, thereby delaying the testing of the B sample beyond the required ten days when he claims he can't find a representative? If I remember correctly, the rules don't require that a representative for the player to be present. They only state that the player has the right to choose to have a representative present. If he chooses to have a representative present, it his responsibility to make sure the representative meets the criteria agreed upon by the league and the NFLPA.

[Lonestar]

It was the Titans that filed the injunction to prevent Jones from participating in any wrestling related activity that could lead to an injury.

Someone like Goodell is necessary for the NFL because of all the knuckleheads that keep screwing up. The NFL has to compete with four other sports for fans and it would be nice if they can do that without boneheads going out and getting arrested every five minutes or testing positive for illegal substances. Perhaps you haven't noticed Congress' recent penchant for sticking it's nose in where it doesn't belong. It wasn't too long ago that MLB was testifying before Congress about steroid use among it's players. The NFL has to stay ahead of the curve before Congress starts messing with them too, not just for steroids and HGH, but player conduct as well. The NFL has the biggest problem with players' off field conduct among the major sports. If Goodell is smart, he'll lead the charge to help with players' pensions and health care for past players before Congress gets too aggressive on that issue. They've already started to stick their noses into that. The bottom line is that it's just good business to hold employees/players to a high standard. Organizations are sometimes blind to mitigating circumstances in an effort to enforce high standards and that's what probably got Henry into the mess he was in this season.

The NFL wanted to enforce it's standards and was rightfully skeptical of Henry's explanation for the positive test. Second hand smoke was not the reason for the positive test. It was obviously a false positive, but they didn't know that at the time. Believing they had a true positive test for a banned substance, they took the appropriate steps to initiate disciplinary action. Henry won his appeal and we will never know if it was because Shanahan made the evidence of Henry's innocence public or not. Maybe Henry would have still won the appeal if everything had remained behind closed doors. I'm not going to presume to be so smart that I know one way or the other as to whether he would have been suspended or not based on whether or not the evidence of his innocence became public. I don't blame the NFL for denying that the hair sample and the polygraph results were influential in the decision to not suspend Henry. Those things are at the heart of what was made public and the NFL wants to maintain an image of making it's decisions based on facts rather than pressure from public scrutiny.

As far as the NFL not adhering to it's own rules goes, the rule is that they have to test the B sample within ten days of a positive test on the A sample. The player is given a list of approved representatives that can be present at the testing of the B sample. It's my understanding that Henry did not choose a representative from that list and instead chose one that is not approved based on the fact that the representative was affiliated with a laboratory or perhaps an inappropriate laboratory. The bottom line is that the representative did not meet the criteria agreed upon by the league and the NFLPA. Why should Henry or any other player be allowed to try to invalidate a test by choosing an inappropriate representative, thereby delaying the testing of the B sample beyond the required ten days when he claims he can't find a representative? If I remember correctly, the rules don't require that a representative for the player to be present. They only state that the player has the right to choose to have a representative present. If he chooses to have a representative present, it his responsibility to make sure the representative meets the criteria agreed upon by the league and the NFLPA.

Outstanding post :salute: :salute: to you..

The NFL is heads and above when it comes to being proactive and staying ahead of the problems in the sports industry.. The only area is lacking IMO is the old timer pensions.. I think they will get to it, but since it is a contractual thing with the NFLPA, it may take awhile.

The owners want the league to be as clean as they can as it is god for business some call it the No fun league but it is a HUGE business.. And advertisers and sponsors pay premium prices to have their name associated with them..

It would be stupid on the owners part to lose all of that by relaxing their rules. And frankly the other major sports leagues are stupid for not following their business model..

[omac]

It was the Titans that filed the injunction to prevent Jones from participating in any wrestling related activity that could lead to an injury.

Someone like Goodell is necessary for the NFL because of all the knuckleheads that keep screwing up. The NFL has to compete with four other sports for fans and it would be nice if they can do that without boneheads going out and getting arrested every five minutes or testing positive for illegal substances. Perhaps you haven't noticed Congress' recent penchant for sticking it's nose in where it doesn't belong. It wasn't too long ago that MLB was testifying before Congress about steroid use among it's players. The NFL has to stay ahead of the curve before Congress starts messing with them too, not just for steroids and HGH, but player conduct as well. The NFL has the biggest problem with players' off field conduct among the major sports. If Goodell is smart, he'll lead the charge to help with players' pensions and health care for past players before Congress gets too aggressive on that issue. They've already started to stick their noses into that. The bottom line is that it's just good business to hold employees/players to a high standard. Organizations are sometimes blind to mitigating circumstances in an effort to enforce high standards and that's what probably got Henry into the mess he was in this season.

The NFL wanted to enforce it's standards and was rightfully skeptical of Henry's explanation for the positive test. Second hand smoke was not the reason for the positive test. It was obviously a false positive, but they didn't know that at the time. Believing they had a true positive test for a banned substance, they took the appropriate steps to initiate disciplinary action. Henry won his appeal and we will never know if it was because Shanahan made the evidence of Henry's innocence public or not. Maybe Henry would have still won the appeal if everything had remained behind closed doors. I'm not going to presume to be so smart that I know one way or the other as to whether he would have been suspended or not based on whether or not the evidence of his innocence became public. I don't blame the NFL for denying that the hair sample and the polygraph results were influential in the decision to not suspend Henry. Those things are at the heart of what was made public and the NFL wants to maintain an image of making it's decisions based on facts rather than pressure from public scrutiny.

As far as the NFL not adhering to it's own rules goes, the rule is that they have to test the B sample within ten days of a positive test on the A sample. The player is given a list of approved representatives that can be present at the testing of the B sample. It's my understanding that Henry did not choose a representative from that list and instead chose one that is not approved based on the fact that the representative was affiliated with a laboratory or perhaps an inappropriate laboratory. The bottom line is that the representative did not meet the criteria agreed upon by the league and the NFLPA. Why should Henry or any other player be allowed to try to invalidate a test by choosing an inappropriate representative, thereby delaying the testing of the B sample beyond the required ten days when he claims he can't find a representative? If I remember correctly, the rules don't require that a representative for the player to be present. They only state that the player has the right to choose to have a representative present. If he chooses to have a representative present, it his responsibility to make sure the representative meets the criteria agreed upon by the league and the NFLPA.

Very nice post! :salute:

Still, I lean more towards errors in favor of players' rights. With Chris Henry (of the Titans), was he even given a warning first? The substance was not formerly in the unapproved substances list. In Pacman's case, you're right it was Tennessee that didn't want him to get injured while wrestling.

With the case of Travis Henry, the representative is there to protect the interest of the Player, to make sure the drug test procedure was fair for the player. if the NFL deemed that Henry's representative did not meet their qualifications, they could've allowed Henry to pick out a representative who would. Instead they administered the test without anyone watching out for Henry's rights. That's almost similar to being questioned by the police without your lawyers present; there's no one there to protect your rights.

Then there was that incident where he fined (suspended?) a coach for taking an unapproved substance, even though it didn't give the coach a competitive advantage in the NFL; it was for personal use, for his sex life with his wife. The fine to that coach was much greater than what he fined Bellichick, when you consider how much each makes.

There must always be a check-and-balance. When someone is given too much power, that usually results in something bad.

But don't get me wrong, I like what Goodell is trying to accomplish, and he is very effective. I just believe with that much power, there needs to be someone or maybe a group that keeps him in check. Right now, he can do anything he almost anything he pleases.

[omac]

Here's some commentary to put some things in perspective .....

http://broncotalk.net/2007/12/nfl-fines-shanahan-25k-for-opening-mouth-regarding-henry-case/

[Lonestar]

Very nice post! :salute:

Still, I lean more towards errors in favor of players' rights. With Chris Henry (of the Titans), was he even given a warning first? The substance was not formerly in the unapproved substances list. In Pacman's case, you're right it was Tennessee that didn't want him to get injured while wrestling.

With the case of Travis Henry, the representative is there to protect the interest of the Player, to make sure the drug test procedure was fair for the player. if the NFL deemed that Henry's representative did not meet their qualifications, they could've allowed Henry to pick out a representative who would. Instead they administered the test without anyone watching out for Henry's rights. That's almost similar to being questioned by the police without your lawyers present; there's no one there to protect your rights.

Then there was that incident where he fined (suspended?) a coach for taking an unapproved substance, even though it didn't give the coach a competitive advantage in the NFL; it was for personal use, for his sex life with his wife. The fine to that coach was much greater than what he fined Bellichick, when you consider how much each makes.

There must always be a check-and-balance. When someone is given too much power, that usually results in something bad.

But don't get me wrong, I like what Goodell is trying to accomplish, and he is very effective. I just believe with that much power, there needs to be someone or maybe a group that keeps him in check. Right now, he can do anything he almost anything he pleases.


Good post overall but I have to comment on the hi-lited part..

He does have checks and balances and the is the owner group.. While it might have pissed off Mikey and Pat the rest of the owners I suspect are alright with the fine and handling of Mikey..

What I suspect they are not happy with is how the process was handled allowing Thenry the chance at protesting the test.. The second test was blotched and as I have stated before it found a hole in the process which will never happen again..

[omac]

Good post overall but I have to comment on the hi-lited part..

He does have checks and balances and the is the owner group.. While it might have pissed off Mikey and Pat the rest of the owners I suspect are alright with the fine and handling of Mikey..

What I suspect they are not happy with is how the process was handled allowing Thenry the chance at protesting the test.. The second test was blotched and as I have stated before it found a hole in the process which will never happen again..

They could put pressure on him, but can they really block him from doing anything, short of taking him to court? It seems like he can make the rules as he goes along, and impose whatever fines and penalties he sees fit. Do the owners have voting rights to prevent him from deciding the penalties to a player and enforcing them, or can they only ask for an appeal on his decision? It sure seems like he can do anything.

[Lonestar]

They could put pressure on him, but can they really block him from doing anything, short of taking him to court? It seems like he can make the rules as he goes along, and impose whatever fines and penalties he sees fit. Do the owners have voting rights to prevent him from deciding the penalties to a player and enforcing them, or can they only ask for an appeal on his decision? It sure seems like he can do anything.

He serves at their pleasure, I suspect they are quite happy with his actions or they would have pulled him up short on his decisions..
They hired him and gave him marching orders, he is merely enforcing their wishes as allowed by the NFLPA agreement.

I also believe that Mikey knew he would get fined and as a means to an end it was 25K well spent. It will not come out of his personal pocket. You and I both know that will not happen.. I'm sure the NFL knows it also..

They fined him to remind the rest of the coaches and GM to stay in line..

They have an image to protect and it is the best in the sports arena.

[wandlc]

One thing that hasn't been discussed are the piss test samples that were taken just a couple of days after the NFL test samples. Whether it was the Broncos organization or Henry's lawyers that was a smart move. Those test results were negative, which puts into question the accuracy of the NFL test results. Testing procedures are being refined all the time and the sensitivity is getting to the point on some substances that are fat solubles will show a positive test now even if the person hasn't used the substance for several years. That is what I think cost the NFL in this case. The test procedures they chose to use went beyond what is normally considered a positive test by accepted industry standards.

[pnbronco]

Well I think it says a lot for Shany. I really hope Henry finally gets that his actions off the field effect the entire team. As a side note Shany donated about $ 50,000 of his money so the Darrent Williams teen center could be built, he is quite a man.

[Lonestar]

One thing that hasn't been discussed are the piss test samples that were taken just a couple of days after the NFL test samples. Whether it was the Broncos organization or Henry's lawyers that was a smart move. Those test results were negative, which puts into question the accuracy of the NFL test results. Testing procedures are being refined all the time and the sensitivity is getting to the point on some substances that are fat solubles will show a positive test now even if the person hasn't used the substance for several years. That is what I think cost the NFL in this case. The test procedures they chose to use went beyond what is normally considered a positive test by accepted industry standards.


Until such time as they amend the players contract those would never have any bearing on the case and as they commented that the hair and poly test had nothing to do with the decision.

Smart money says they failed to follow guidelines on the second test and therefore did not have a leg to stand on.. Therefore the decision change on the suspension.. Nothing else matters can test themselves daily and unless the NFL administers the test they do not count.

Just like chain of evidence in the court of law.. If someone did not have the gun in custody all the time. All evidence tied to the gun is kaput.