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The notion that some media members across the country felt they knew Harris’ character well enough to ignore the test results was truly strange.

They should have known better, but they decided that their own personal relationship with Harris was more important than the results of the test.

Harris is, by all accounts, a great human being and a classy ambassador for the Canadian game. But those voters seem to be suggesting that that is what matters in this case. If Harris had been slightly less accommodating with those media members over the years, would they then not have accepted the results of the drug test? That’s absurd, and damages the integrity of what sports are supposed to stand for.

Blindly choosing to believe a player’s explanation because of supposed personal trust built up over a career is a dereliction of journalistic objectivity. That objectivity is the very reason media members are relied on to vote for these awards in the first place.

The facts are the facts. Athletes are responsible for what they put in their bodies, and a drug test found that Harris had something illegal in his system.

Again, this isn’t about Harris. The decision not to vote for him for end-of-season awards had nothing to do with anybody’s opinion of Harris as a player or as a man.

The decision ultimately came down to whether we, culturally, as a Canadian football community, are willing to uphold the notion that performance enhancing drugs have no place in our sport.

Wyman, Hamilton and Bauming said ‘No.’ They weren’t alone. I personally did not vote for him to be an all-star because of the positive test.

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There were other voters who decided the presence of banned substances in a player’s body should be overlooked when it comes to awards time as long as they personally admire the athlete.

On Thursday, the league’s players let us all know who they agreed with.

Now, it’s time for the CFL to do what’s right and ensure this debate doesn’t need to happen the next time a player tests positive.

daustin@postmedia.com

www.twitter.com/DannyAustin_9