Henry confident suspension will be overturned

[jjchieffan]

http://www.milehighreport.com/story/2007/11/17/195745/12

By TheSportsGuru
Posted on Sat Nov 17, 2007 at 07:57:45 PM EDT

Travis Henry emerged from a 5-hour appeal hearing with the NFL confident that his positive marijuana test will be overturned -
Five witnesses, including Henry and a polygraph examiner, were called during the hearing at a Phoenix hotel.

Henry's defense team was led by Harvey Steinberg, a prominent Denver attorney who has represented numerous athletes from the Broncos, Rockies, Avalanche and Nuggets.

"We were very happy with how the hearing went and we look forward to the NFL's decision," Steinberg said.

The league is expected to announce its ruling Tuesday, the day after the Broncos play Henry's former team, the Tennessee Titans, on Monday night at Invesco Field at Mile High.
If the league rules against Henry, he could receive an immediate 16-game suspension, the punishment for third-time offenders.

Drug testers allege 21 nanograms of marijuana were found in Henry's urine sample taken on Aug. 27.

Henry said in previous court documents the positive test must have been a mistake. The Broncos say Henry passed subsequent lie-detector and hair follicle tests and had clean urine samples within a few days prior to the positive test and a few days after.

While the ruling Tuesday by commissioner Roger Goodell will determine Henry's long-term fate, his availability for the game against the Titans will be determined by the health of his left knee.

I have made my stance on this subject pretty clear. If Henry is found to be innocent I will accept him back, though his track record shows that it is only a matter of time. Some people change, I guess, but most do not.

[chagrin]

Edit, article said prior to, not after.

[Mecca]

Well.....I hope he's not, he's somewhat important to my fantasy team.

[Hammock Parties]

Doesn't matter, he's a walking ER-unit anyway. Ineffective, broken down POS.

[MIAdragon]

If the “second hand smoke is legit Why would a guy on the verge of a suspension like that be anywhere NEAR people smoking!?!?

[blueballs]

Has Henry ever failed a test involving fluids

[OctoberFart]

Doesn't matter, he's a walking ER-unit anyway. Ineffective, broken down POS.

Kind of like two other RBs in the AFC W in Jordan and Diaper Boy.

[Hammock Parties]

Kind of like two other RBs in the AFC W in Jordan and Diaper Boy.

Larry is coming back and is definitely not injury prone.

[blueballs]

Priest should receive some kind of recognition from the league
if he can even put up some half ass decent numbers
he keeps coming back from debilitating injuries

[jjchieffan]

Sports

DENVER - Just four days after Denver Broncos Running Back Travis Henry participated in a hearing to fight the results of a positive marijuana test, a source with first-hand knowledge of the situation said they believe Henry has a chance at winning his appeal on a technicality.

“He’s got a shot to win this. They [the National Football League] f****d up,” said the inside source.

Last Friday, at the downtown Hyatt in Phoenix Arizona, lawyers defended Henry’s case in his requested appeal hearing.

Prior to the appeal hearing, Henry’s lawyers asked the League to turn over all documents related to Henry’s latest positive test result that existed two weeks prior to, and two weeks after the actual test, the source said.

“Henry’s lawyers asked [the League] ‘is this all?’ They were told ‘yes.’ They asked again, ‘is this all?’ They were told, ‘yes.’ Well it was not all,” the source revealed.

The same source said -to their knowledge- it was unknown that there were un-produced materials in the discovery process prior to the appeal.

The source said this miscue may be enough to allow the hearing officer to rule in Henry’s favor, and thereby result in the Broncos running back escaping a one-year suspension.

“It’s an issue of fairness. If the players are held to a strict stance, everybody else has to abide by the same policy.”

“Did it have an effect? Maybe, or maybe not. The fact is, it could have potentially affected his case.”

This sentiment comes despite the fact that Henry tested positive for marijuana with a result of 21ng/ml. The League’s benchmark is 15ng/ml.

When asked if the hearing officer might recommend a shorter suspension as a compromise, given the lack of complete discovery, the source expressed doubt.

“My guess is that it’s going to be all or nothing,” they said. “I don’t think that the hearing officer has the power to modify the suspension [length].”

“The only reason why [Henry] would have a favorable ruling is because of that screw up.”

On November 12th, Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan defended the innocence of his starting running back after announcing that Henry had passed both a lie detector and hair sample test.

However, the source does not believe the team-scheduled tests will have any bearing on the hearing officer’s decision.

According to the source, the line of questioning from the lie detector test was introduced as evidence during the appeal hearing, but it was not impressive.

“There were questions like…‘did you smoke a marijuana joint between these such and such dates?”

“What’s wrong with that? It doesn’t ask you if you smoked the marijuana from a bong or a pipe,” answered the inside source.

“The question should have been, did you knowingly ingest marijuana,” explained the source.

“There is a reason why the League doesn’t use hair sample tests and lie detector tests; they’re not reliable,” opined the source.

Henry has said that a decision on his appeal is expected as early as Tuesday.

Calls to Henry’s lawyers were not immediately returned for this report.

[Garcia Bronco]

If the “second hand smoke is legit Why would a guy on the verge of a suspension like that be anywhere NEAR people smoking!?!?


People smoke herb in bars all the time. It's also legal in Denver.

[Pushead2]

People smoke herb in bars all the time. It's also legal in Denver.

Denver = Dive.

[HonestChieffan]

So will he pay the back child support now?

[StcChief]

People smoke herb in bars all the time. It's also legal in Denver.
not legal in the NFL stay away (outta those bars) from 2nd hand MJ smoke to avoid any issues...

or resign from your high paying job in the NFL.

[Mile High Mania]

Pro athletes with all this $ should be smarter than this, or at least hire people that are smarter than them to keep their heads from getting stuck in their asses.