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The NFL’s PED policy is sufficiently effective to ensnare players who use supplements that contain banned substances. However, the PED policy has yet to catch many (if any) actual cheaters.

Those observations hinge on the honesty of the stream of PED offenders who claim they used a supplement that, unbeknownst to them, included one of the many chemicals and compounds on the long list of forbidden fruits.

Colts defensive tackle Arthur Jones, suspended four games for a PED violation, is the latest cheater-who-isn’t-a-cheater. Via Bob Kravitz of WTHR.com, Jones said, “I did a piss poor job of double checking my supplements to make sure nothing was banned.”

The pun probably wasn’t intended; the “I am not a crook” message surely was. Either no one is deliberately using PEDs or they aren’t getting caught or, when they get caught, they’re claiming that they merely took a substance that they didn’t know included a banned substance.

Maybe Jones is telling the truth. The fact that his truth matches the terms of what so many times is used as an excuse makes it harder for folks to accept that his violation occurred inadvertently.