Steven Jackson is not going to comply with the NFL rules. The former star running back recently signed a one-day contract with the Los Angeles Rams so he could officially retire with the team. Apparently, the league didn’t get a memo as NFL advisor Dr. John Lombardo requested that Jackson take a drug test according to the New York Post.
Jackson hasn’t played in the NFL since 2015 and he’s not making a comeback. So when he heard about his request from the league, Jackson responded on Twitter.
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“Dear NFL can you tell Mr. Lombardo that I signed a one day contract,” Jackson said. “I will not be reporting today for my random drug test screening. Thanks in advance #retirement life.”
So how did this happen? Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains the process of drug testing for NFL players.
“All players are subject to a once-per-year substance-abuse test, during a window that opens on April 20 (yes, 4/20) and that closes in early August,” Florio wrote. “And by “all players,” the league means all players — even those who join the roster and immediately exit it, and even though there was never any contemplation that the player will actually join the team.”
Florio talked to a league spokesman and he said there wasn’t a “mistake”.
“As you know more than most, this is done by the independent administrator,” a league spokesman said. “This is done for all players who sign and have not had an annual test completed.”
Either way, Jackson is not taking the drug test because he’s not playing this year or any year moving forward. But when he was one the field, he was one of the best running backs in the league.
Jackson was selected by the Rams in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He rushed for 673 yards and four touchdowns in his rookie season, but he took off in his second year, 1,046 yards and eight touchdowns.
For the next seven seasons, Jackson would rush for at least 1,000 yards and he was named to the Pro Bowl three times during that span. He signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2013 where he spent two seasons before ending his career with the New England Patriots in 2015.
