The NFL insists its drug tests are random, but Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown isn’t so sure. He was tested Monday morning, and considering he had a monster day against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon, he feels the timing is pretty suspicious.
I would have a drug test this morning huh lol 🙄 Rogerrrrr this is not random 😭@NFL
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) October 31, 2022
Worlds like “monster” or “massive” or “enormously huge” are some of the only words that can really describe the kind of day Brown had on Sunday. He caught a ridiculous three touchdowns of at least 25 yards, all of them in the first half. Along with quarterback Jalen Hurts, he gave the Eagles a huge lead they would never relinquish as they won 35-13 and remained the only undefeated team in the NFL.
According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark, Brown is the first Eagles player in 53 years with 3 touchdowns of 25 yards or more in a game. So when Brown woke up on Monday and discovered that he had been tapped for a drug test by the NFL, it definitely didn’t feel random.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the NFL has “randomly” hit recently successful players with a drug test. In August, New Orleans Saints punter hit an 81-yard punt in a preseason game. A few days later, he woke up to an NFL test text on his phone.
In 2021, when then-New England Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy had a pretty gigantic game against the Atlanta Falcons, he also got a testing message from the NFL. After recording eight tackles, two sacks, two quarterback hits, two tackles for a loss, one pass defended, and a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown during a Thursday night game, he awoke Friday to the infamous testing notification text.
Yoooo y’all won’t believe this…… I make a couple plays last night and guess what happens??? The @NFL is drug testing me today 😂😂😂😂😂😂 you can’t make this up!
— Kyle Van Noy (@KVN_03) November 19, 2021
In Oct. 2021, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was tested three times in four weeks when he’d been having a pretty serious rash of sacks. In fact, Garrett had put together a QB graveyard in his front yard for Halloween, with a headstone for each QB he’d sacked. A QB graveyard is almost inviting the NFL to come and test him, but Garrett thought showing off his arms two weeks in a row was enough.
The NFL trying to clone its own players through drug tests is a brilliant setup for a horror movie or kitschy Halloween special. Someone at Amazon Prime has to get on that.
