The National Football League Players Association says it will “look into” claims by Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid that he has been subjected to an unusual number of random drug tests, ESPN reported.
Reid, who is one of the league’s original protesters during the national anthem, again complained about the number of drug tests assigned to him in comments made after last Sunday’s Week 12 game.
“This is supposed to be a random system,” Reid said, according to the Charlotte Observer. “It doesn’t feel very random.”
Eric Reid was randomly selected by the NFL to take a drug test today. He told me it's his 6th drug test since signing w/ Panthers on Sept. 27, 5th random (1st test was part of his physical).
"This is supposed to be a random system. It doesn't feel very random."
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) November 25, 2018
The NFL has a system of drug tests governed by a computer program that is supposed to randomly pick players across the league for drug tests as a way to encourage players to stay clean. But Reid has only been with the team since the end of September and has already had six drug tests.
Sunday’s comment was not the first time Reid has brought up the issue.
The former San Francisco 49ers safety was assigned a drug test after being ejected from a game on November 8 for making contact with Ben Roethlisberger’s head. In the locker room, Reid insisted that he feels he has been drug tested far too many times to be random.
“This is like the fifth time since I’ve been here,” he said at the time. “They’re not going to catch me on anything.”
“I’m not losing any sleep over it, but it should be talked about,” Reid added. “It’s wrong.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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