The NFL is full of shit and in typical fashion they are trying to cover their ass with a bull shit bribery charge because they know he had legitimate reasons for missing the tests.
Sources: Cowboys RT La’el Collins adamantly expresses innocence in face of bribery allegation
Per sources, Collins’ appealed suspension was extended back to five games by an arbitrator for allegedly attempting to bribe a drug sample collector.
David Moore
DMN
8:25 AM on Sep 26, 2021
Guess NFL officials got fed up with the strategy of trying to make them look bad over the La’el Collins suspension.
The response: We see your death of a weight and conditioning coach and an uncle’s funeral as legitimate excuses to miss tests and raise you a bribery allegation.
Collins will miss his second consecutive game Monday night when Dallas hosts Philadelphia. The Cowboys right tackle is scheduled to miss a total of five games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
The case, which has been simmering for more than six months, is as convoluted as it is contentious. The latest revelation that Collins attempted to bribe a sample collector, first reported by ESPN, has taken this to a new level.
Collins is adamant he did nothing wrong, sources stress. Why would he try to bribe someone when he hasn’t produced a positive test for marijuana? It makes no sense.
Any comments made by Collins along those lines to a sample collector were clearly intended as a joke and should be viewed that way, sources contend. That’s the stance.
Here’s the problem: That’s a bit like walking into an airport and joking you have a gun. It’s a joke that carries consequences.
Darren Jones represents Collins. Peter Schaffer was hired to assist with the appeal. The Cowboys have been apprised every step along the way.
Multiple sources acquainted with the prolonged process say the initial suspension of five games was lowered to three games and then to two, the final reduction brokered by the NFL Players Association. There was a serious discussion among the player’s inner circle and family at that stage about whether or not it was in his best interest to take the two games and move on.
Since three games were sliced off the initial suspension, there was a sense among some that the league’s case would crumble if pushed even further. And Collins, sources said, didn’t believe he did anything to warrant a suspension. That’s when his representatives took it to arbitration, timed to ensure he would be able to play in the team’s regular-season opener against Tampa Bay.
The arbitrator not only ruled against Collins, but adjusted the suspension back to five games. A separate appeal has now been filed, but chances for a reversal appear unlikely.
Shortly after the suspension was announced, there were reports that the issue with Collins involved tests that were missed. One came the day the players were sent home after Markus Paul, the Cowboys strength and conditioning coach, died. Another came when Collins was out of town for an uncle’s funeral.
The revised substance-abuse policy doesn’t allow for suspensions for positive marijuana tests. But, it does permit the league to take action for a “failure to cooperate with testing.’’
Sunday’s report that Collins tried to bribe a sample collector clearly surfaced to counter the strategy in Collins’ camp to paint the league as unreasonable in the court of public opinion.
If one side or the other doesn’t de-escalate in the coming days, this will get even messier.