In one of the most shocking turns of events, Arizona Cardinals superstar DeAndre Hopkins was handed a six-game suspension for breaking the NFL’s PED policy. That shed more light on why the Cardinals made a move for Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown during the NFL Draft.
Hopkins is widely respected around the league for his work ethic and maturity. Unlike most stars, he’s rarely been in the spotlight for anything besides his production on the field, so this was somewhat shocking.
As a matter of fact, Hopkins’ camp claims that the Clemson product was ‘shocked and confused’ after testing positive for PEDs, up to the point that he vowed to ‘get to the bottom of it’ and share more information with the fans.
NFL News: ‘Shocked’ DeAndre Hopkins Releases Statement After Positive PED Test
(Transcript via DeAndre Hopkins)
“In my 10-year career, I have never tested positive for using performance enhancing drugs.To learn that my November test came back with trace elements of a banned substance, I was confused and shocked.
I am very mindful of what I put in my body and have always taken a holistic approach, so I am working with my team to investigate how this could’ve happened. But even as careful as I have been, clearly I wasn’t careful enough. For that, I apologize to Cardinals fans, my teammates, and the entire Cardinals organization. I never want to let my team down.
I fully intend to get to the bottom of this. As soon as I have more information, I will share it.”
Needless to say, Hopkins wouldn’t be the first athlete to deny knowingly taking PEDs. Now, whether he’ll actually share more information about it or not remains to be seen, as it’s been six months since his test came back positive, so he’s had plenty of time to investigate.