The NFL and NFL Players Association came close to an agreement last month before hitting yet another disheartening snag. It seems possible, even probable, that the NFL could play another season without HGH testing. It's a reality that sticks in the craw of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has made player health and safety a major initiative of his tenure. Andrea Kremer, NFL Media's chief health and safety correspondent, asked Goodell on Wednesday about the hold-up. "You know Andrea, I wish I could tell you. We have tried everything we can to compromise on a variety of issues," Goodell said. "We didn't believe a population study was necessarily the right course, but we agreed to do it to answer those questions. We have agreed to third-party arbitration. We have compromised on a lot of areas without compromising on the integrity of the program. "We believe it's the right thing for the safety of the players. We believe it's the right thing for the game. We think it's the right thing to send a message to the youth, that this is out. It's time to get this done. We agreed to this in the collective bargaining agreement two years ago. We have worked to address all these issues, and we believe we've done that." NFL Media's Albert Breer reported that the final remaining issue is Goodell's power over the appeals process and Kremer asked him why it's so important that he retain power of discipline. "That's a reputational issue. That now is something reflects on the NFL, the players and everybody involved in our game, including our fans," Goodell said. "And so we are not going to relent on the commissioner's discipline or the discipline to make sure that we do what's reputationally important for the NFL or hand that off to somebody else." Source: NFL.com
