As a result of Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing's suspension for violating the NFL's anti-doping policy and his admission that he took a non-steroid banned substance, The Associated Press is taking a revote for the 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year award, which Cushing won.

The AP will also revote for All-Pro outside linebacker, where Cushing initially received five votes and was named to the second team.

Cushing is still among the nominees in the revote. All ballots in the revote are due by early Wednesday afternoon.

Cushing has been suspended for the first four games in 2010 for violating the league's anti-doping policy. He was tested last September, league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

After being alerted of the positive test, Cushing was tested randomly numerous times throughout the season and never tested positive again, a source familiar with the case told Schefter.

Cushing's test was positive for elevated levels of hCG, the source familiar with the case told Schefter. The level that he tested positive for was so low that it would not have been considered a positive test even a year ago.

hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) is a banned substance that is widely used to stimulate the body's testosterone production after an athlete uses anabolic steroids.

If a player has a medical need for it, he can request a therapeutic use exemption, but if he had an exemption, Cushing wouldn't have been suspended.

One person familiar with testing procedures told Schefter that hCG is contained in seminal fluid and that slightly elevated levels can be discovered in the event that a test occurs soon after ejaculation.

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency spokeswoman Erin Hannan denied that.

"You would not see a natural spike of hCG after a workout or ejaculation," Hannan told The Associated Press. "You would only detect it in urine by actually having taken it."

Cushing took and passed a lie-detector test to prove he was not guilty of taking a performance-enhancing drug, but his four-game suspension still stands, a league source told Schefter.

Cushing said he took the substance during September, the first month of the 2009 schedule. Although Cushing said his positive test was not for a steroid-related substance, the positive test was for something that was considered performance enhancing. Cushing appealed the decision and lost that appeal.