The NFL suspended Denver Broncos receiver Wes Welker for four games due to his violation of the league's drug policy. Pro Football Talk reported the suspension came as a result of Welker taking MDMA at the Kentucky Derby, a report which Welker staunchly denied.
The Broncos announced Tuesday night Welker would miss the first four games of the season for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. NFL.com reports Welker, who appealed the suspension two weeks ago and lost, tested positive for amphetamines.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Welker's suspension, though, wasn't the result of him attempting to get an edge on the competition but rather the result of him taking MDMA - possibly Molly - at the Kentucky Derby in May.
"Per a league source, the banishment under the PED policy happened because Welker took MDMA, a banned substance under the substance-abuse policy, that had been cut with amphetamines, a banned substance under the PED policy," Florio wrote Tuesday. "... As happened with Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick, pure MDMA wouldn't have triggered a violation under the PED policy. The presence of amphetamines resulted in a one-strike, four-game suspension."
Welker denied doing Molly in an email to the Denver Post.
"I wouldn't have any idea where to get a Molly or what a Molly is," Welker wrote to the Post. "That's a joke. I don't do marijuana, I don't do drugs. I don't do any drugs."
He also denied knowingly using any performance-enhancing drug and called the league's substance policy "flawed."
"I'm as shocked as everyone at todays (sic) news," Welker said in the email. "I want to make one thing abundantly clear: I would NEVER knowingly take a substance to gain a competitive advantage in any way. Anyone who has ever played a down with me, lifted a weight with me, even eaten a meal with me, knows that I focus purely on what I put in my body and on the hard work I put in year round to perform at the highest levels year-in and year-out. ...
"I have never been concerned with the leagues (sic) performance enhancing or drug abuse policies because under no scenario would they ever apply to me, but I now know, that (drug-policy procedures) are clearly flawed, and I will do everything in my power to ensure they are corrected, so other individuals and teams aren't negatively affected so rashly like this."
