The NFL and NFL Players Association released a joint statement on Wednesday responding to Eric Reid’s claim that he was being targeted by the league with random drug testing, and it turns out the Carolina Panthers safety may have exaggerated to make a point.
Back in November, Reid told reporters he had been drug tested six times since signing with the Panthers on Sept. 27. He said one of those tests was part of his physical and the other five were random, but Reid noted that the system “doesn’t feel very random.” According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, an investigation into Reid’s claim revealed that he lied about how many times he had been tested.
According to one source familiar with the report delivered to the NFL and NFLPA on Eric Reid's drug testing, that report says that Reid was not tested as many times as Reid asserted publicly.
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) January 9, 2019
That helps explain why the NFL and NFL Players Association were both confident in saying Reid’s tests were purely random and not the result of him being targeted. The union would typically side with the player in a situation like this, so it’s possible the NFLPA chose not to back Reid after he was caught exaggerating.
Since Reid has been a big advocate for national anthem protests and has gone out of his way to support Colin Kaepernick, the implication was that he was being targeted for taking a stance. Whether you believe that was the case or not, it’s not a good look for him to have lied about the amount of tests he was subjected to.
