Did you know that power numbers were down in baseball?  The numbers were some of the lowest we’ve seen in awhile.  There was one 40 homerun hitter.  And that hitter was Nelson Cruz, who was suspended last year for 50 games under the PED policy for major league baseball.  

The combined homeruns and RBI’s for the two league leaders (77 and 227 respectively) was the lowest in at least 12 years.  It could be further back, but I got bored continuing to look up the data.

Alright, Adam, what does that have to do with the NFL??

Well, hold on and I’ll tell you.

It is pretty obvious that MLB’s toughened stance on PED use has taken effect.  The hitters are a little smaller and not jacking it all over the place.  I mean what the heck happened to Chris Davis who belted over 50 last year and this year batted under .200 and suspended 25 games for PED use?

Were you aware that the NFL established a testing for Human Growth Hormone (HGH) at the last collective bargaining agreement in 2011.  Problem was that they couldn’t agree on how to test for it so the main agreement was OK’d and they said they’d work out the details for HGH testing later.

That later became a reality last Monday, when the NFL started random HGH testing.  5 players on 8 teams will be randomly selected each week (over 900 tests for a pre-season, regular, and post-season) for testing.

And they will be taking the blood test which is the only way to test for HGH (unless something newer has come out I don’t realize).

So what does that mean?

It means that if your favorite NFL player has been taking HGH to get bigger, stronger, and faster, he better be smart on how he takes it.  I feel a lot of those guys are taking something and this no doubt will make them re-think their strategy.

I think that in a few years, the size and explosiveness of some of these players might diminish.  A 6’3″ 255 pound linebacker running a 4.5 40 is not natural.  Yet there are tons of these players around.  30 years ago there weren’t.  It’s amazing how fast EVOLUTION has happened with athletes these days.

I know training and nutrition is cutting edge, but some things just aren’t possible without a little help.  So I think that you will see some of these players starting to shrink down or if you see them stay at that size, they won’t be as explosive.

That is my thought and prediction.  Not necessarily for next year, but maybe the year after for sure.  Now that you know there is HGH testing, do you agree or disagree?  Or do you think the NFL will be as explosive as ever?  Place your thoughts in the comments box below.