NFL

Richard Sherman May Have Been On Adderall When He Shut Down The NFL’s Best Receivers

I don’t understand how someone can take Adderall and play cornerback in the NFL. On the one hand, I can see the immediate benefits of taking ADHD meds and playing one of the more cognitively demanding positions in sports (seriously, look at the plays these guys have to memorize. It’s in a different league than that Quant Studies 201 final you took 40mgs of Concerta and two Monster energy drinks for). And breaking down game film while your central nervous system is in nitro boost overdrive is probably a blast.

But there are side effects to both short-term and prolonged Adderall use, like dehydration, weight loss, and the dreaded libido shrinkage that don’t seem to quite gel with the NFL lifestyle. So why the seemingly increasing number of players on the drug?

Richard Sherman is the latest. He and fellow Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner are facing four-game suspensions for taking Adderall, just as Seattle (6-5) tries to maintain its hold on an NFC playoff spot (they’re currently 6th in the conference). Although ADHD meds are allowed if you have a valid prescription, Sherman denied he ever used Adderall on Twitter and in a text message conversation with NFL.com’s Steve Wyche:

“Something I have never done,” Sherman said, referring to the usage of Adderall, a drug typically prescribed to patients suffering from attention deficit disorder. Sherman added that he has not “taken anything,” that would cause him to be suspended under the NFL rules for performance-enhancing drugs.

Sherman and Browner are perhaps the league’s best set of corners, and Sherman in particular has had a phenomenal year: he famously came up big against Tom Brady and the Patriots (then tweeted this photo) and held Calvin Johnson to three receptions earlier in the year. Weather he was cheating on his final remains to be seen.

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