A blurb just hit the wire about Rodney Harrison being suspended for using HGH. Here is a quick blurb from ESPN.com:
New England Patriots strong safety Rodney Harrison will be suspended by the NFL for four games, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen, after admitting to federal investigators and to league officials that he used Human Growth Hormone.
Harrison had a hearing with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday, the sources said, and the Patriots could announce the suspension as early as Saturday, when all teams must reduce their rosters to the regular-season limit of 53 players.
A league spokesman said Friday the NFL will not comment on the Harrison case. Harrison could not be immediately reached for comment. A Patriots source told ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli that the team is aware of the sanction against the 13-year veteran and is "dealing with it." The team source declined to say when the Patriots became aware of Harrison's involvement.
League sources confirmed to ESPN and ESPN.com that at least one NFL assistant coach has also been questioned in recent months by investigators as part of the probe. Sources said that the coach remains a person of interest in the investigation.
The rest of the story is here.
It will be interesting to see if this is coming about from when Rodney was aggressively rehabbing his knee to gain strength back. They haven't referred to when this all went down. At the same time, I find it a little odd that he is being suspended for something that was said, since he was never actually tested for it, and therefore never failed a drug test. I'm not saying it would be right for him to keep playing, I am just wondering if the Players Association will say anything about it.
For the Patriots it isn't as devastating as it would be if it was Richard Seymour or Tedy Bruschi. Brandon Meriweather has looked pretty solid in preseason, as has James Sanders. I think the Patriots are a better team with Harrison roaming the secondary but it isn't as bad as some may think from a personnel standpoint.
