![\"joshfreeman\"](\"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/files\/2013\/09\/joshfreeman.jpg\")
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman has voluntarily entered the NFL drug program. Freeman issued the following statement saying that he takes a drug to help control his ADHD and put himself into the program.<\/p>\n
“I have NEVER tested positive for any illegal drugs or related substances,” Freeman said. “Further, I have agreed to take, and have PASSED 46 NFL-regulated drug tests over the last year and a half. … I have ADHD and I have been prescribed and permitted to take medication to treat this condition for the entirety of my NFL career. Well over a year ago, I took a different medication for the same condition (Ritalin rather than Adderall), and to assure everyone that the error was a one-time mistake, I agreed to be voluntarily tested in the ‘NFL Program’.<\/p>\n
Since that time, I have taken and passed all 46 drug tests I\u2019ve been given, which test for every drug and banned substance imaginable. I agreed to allow such testing to be done at my workplace (team facility) because I spend all of my time there and I have nothing whatsoever to hide or be embarrassed about.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it appears that some people who may have noticed the testing at my workplace have made hurtful and incorrect assumptions and chosen to disseminate inaccurate and very disturbing information. It is a shame that when times have gotten tough, people have chosen to attack the character of others, rather than supporting each other. I remain dedicated and focused to being the best quarterback I can be and to help a team win a championship.”<\/p>\n
The confidentiality of Freeman’s medical status has been violated, and he and the NFL Players Association plan to take action.<\/p>\n
Earlier this evening,\u00a0ESPN.com reported that Freeman was \u00a0in stage one of the NFL’s drug program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman has voluntarily entered the NFL drug program. Freeman issued the following statement saying that he takes a drug to help control his ADHD and put himself into the program. “I have NEVER tested positive for any illegal drugs or related substances,” Freeman said. “Further, I have agreed to take, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[425],"tags":[392],"coauthors":[28],"class_list":{"0":"post-5626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-josh-freeman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5626"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}