NFL wants to implement HGH testing

The NFL has attempted to implement testing for Human Growth Hormone (HGH) for the last several years, and those efforts are expected to continue if and when collective bargaining agreement negotiations resume.

"We think it's necessary," Adolpho Birch, who is in charge of the league's drug-testing policies, told FoxSports.com yesterday. "We're going to ensure that it's done. That's something very important to us and the integrity of our game."

The NFL Players Association has decertified as a union and is acting only as a trade association while antitrust litigation proceeds against the NFL. The NFLPA has been reluctant to agree to HGH testing, in part because it doesn't want to have players undergo blood tests and because no accurate urine test exists.

However, NFLPA officials privately have expressed a willingness to explore HGH testing, and it's expected that the league eventually will include it under its drug-testing umbrella. HGH is a banned substance in the NFL.