During the 2018 season, Eric Reid was finally signed by the Carolina Panthers and almost immediately, controversy began as he was picked at random for a drug test.
Reid was signed by the Panthers at the end of September, after spending his first five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
“I’ve been here 11 weeks, I’ve been drug-tested seven times,” Reid said after a Week 15 loss to the New Orleans Saints. “That has to be statistically impossible. I’m not a mathematician, but there’s no way that’s random.”
On Wednesday, the NFL and NFLPA issued a joint statement saying a report from an independent administrator showed “no evidence” that the Panthers safety was targeted for performance-enhancing drug testing this season.
The statement reads:
We take any claim questioning the integrity of our collectively bargained performance-enhancing drug policy seriously. We asked the independent administrator of the policy to review and produce a report on the claims of targeting. A copy of this report, which contains personal and confidential testing information, has been provided to Eric Reid. We will not breach any player’s confidentiality, but can confirm that the report documents the dates he was randomly selected for testing and the actual dates of the drug tests. The report also demonstrates that Mr. Reid’s tests were randomly generated via computer algorithm and that his selection for testing was normal when compared with the number of tests players were randomly selected for throughout the league during the time that he was on an active roster. There is no evidence of targeting or any other impropriety with respect to his selection for testing.
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Reid was one of the first players to protest during the playing of the National Anthem along with former teammate Colin Kaepernick and subsequently filed a grievance against the NFL when he went un-signed during the offseason, claiming owners were colluding against him.