Just when you thought the incident of James Harrison being unable to film his PED test was over, the union has fired right back at the league.
To recap: earlier this week, Harrison was subject to a random drug test at his home. Harrison, as he had done at least once before, wanted to film the test for his own record and perhaps, share the process with the public. Ryan Willis, the the head of the drug testing program through third party company Drug Free Sport, responded that he was not allowed to film and if Harrison did not cooperate, the test would not be conducted and Harrison would’ve flunked. Harrison called DeMaurice Smith, head of the union, and eventually conceded to take the test without filming. The next day, the league affirmed Willis’ position that taping the test was prohibited. Got it?
Smith has officially responded on behalf of the league today, sending this message to the players as posted by Harrison on his Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFpiKYrpFkC/?taken-by=jhharrison92
To summarize, Smith made it clear there is no rule that explicitly wouldn’t have allowed Harrison to film. He does point out the issues of having another object present during the testing process and state-to-state one versus two party consent laws. For the record, Pennsylvania is a two-party consent state, meaning all members filmed or recorded must give consent.
As Smith indicates, the union is sending a maybe not so friendly reminder to the league and Drug Free Sport this upcoming week. From the league’s perspective, it doesn’t sound like they’re willing to budge. As we have pointed out before, the CBA does not explicitly state the drug testing procedure. So any change figures to take time.
Harrison probably isn’t too concerned over the matter anymore. He’s in Disney World with his kids.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFofxFTpFjW/?taken-by=jhharrison92
And that’s the most enjoyable thing to come out of this post. Lawyers suck.
