Cushing out 4 games for Steroids

[barrett]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5172060

Uh-oh.

[Roy P]

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b42Xb


I wonder if Darryl Sharpton can play the SAM? I bet Jamar Chaney could.

[nunusguy]

Bob McNair was complaining about the lack of national attention for his Texans. I'm thinking he's now gonna get some media, though obviously not the way he probably had in mind.
All the rumors about Cushing in this area - turns out there was fire with all of that smoke. Obviously his entire rookie season with the awards and all is tarnished by this disclosure.

[TexanJedi]

A couple of things, first being no excuses. Whether he took steroids or something on the league's banned list is not clear, many jump to the conclusion that he took steroids. Could be but either way he is tarnished and it hurts the team. Too bad he did not play for the Vikings where the rules seem to not apply. I guess Bentley will take over at Sam and wouldn't you know we have a tough first 4 games. This is great news.

[Roy P]

I suppose Diles could play the SAM and Marcus Freeman could play the WILL. At least, that's a combo I'd be wanting to see.

Looking at Cushing, I merely assumed he was taking HGH or some other fancy supplement that wouldn't be detected by the steroids test. I thought all of these questions would have been answered before drafting Cushing. That's why I was leaning towards Clay Mathews over Cushing - just seemed like a more legitimate player who didn't use performance enhancing drugs.

We all jumped on the Cushing bandwagon once he started playing well. It just seems out of sequence that we have learned about this issue at this juncture. Did he start AFTER we drafted him? Was it after the regular season?

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Roy P

That's why I was leaning towards Clay Mathews over Cushing - just seemed like a more legitimate player who didn't use performance enhancing drugs.

Tut, I won't say that taking Matthews would have been a poor idea, but not for this reasoning though. Matthews (and Cushing) had the rumors of a failed steriod test at the Combine (both were never confirmed). Matthews sorta came out of nowhere for USC to becoming such a highly sought after prospect; Cushing was more legit in that he was the multi-year starter as I recall.


I'm sure this news probably comes as no surprise, sadly, to A LOT of people. And if it was a surprise to the Texans, then shame on them. I think more than anything the team is going to miss his gameday attitude. DeMeco, Pollard, and yes even you Mario are going to need to be loud and strong from the first snap in Week 1. This first game against the Colts, at home, is so crucial to the team this year.

[Mike]

We will never know what he took or why. For all we know, it could have been something that is on the banned list that he took trying to heal up. Let's not make assumptions.

Whatever it is, this really hurts the team.