SI's NFL Player Poll on PED Usage

[Marlow]

Verrrrry interestink!

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/staff ... cing-drugs

What percentage of NFL players would you say use performance-enhancing drugs? [Based on a survey of 320 NFL players]

0 - 4% use PEDs.....32%
5 - 9% use PEDs.....23%
10 - 19% use PEDs.....20%
20 - 29% use PEDs.....12%
30%+ use PEDs.....12%

My question - are they telling the truth or part of a systematic cover-up/unwillingness to air dirty laundry?

If it is true, it surprises me, but on the other hand, maybe there's too many danger signals (to oneself and to one's career) to risk it.

[BisonHurdler]

No one wants to point fingers. You know, the whole "4 more pointing back at you" idea.

The general public would be foolish to believe these numbers accurately represent either the actual incidence of usage or the actual beliefs of current NFL players.

[Marlow]

No one wants to point fingers. You know, the whole "4 more pointing back at you" idea.

Yeahbut . . . no one is pointing fingers at anyone specific, nor are they getting fingers pointed back, so WHY won't they tell the truth (assuming they're not, which I do think is the case)?

[KevinM]

What's also being ignored is how bad people are at giving off the cuff estimates, especially about something that's not in the open.

The credence people gives to opinion polls baffles me.

[BisonHurdler]

No one wants to point fingers. You know, the whole "4 more pointing back at you" idea.

Yeahbut . . . no one is pointing fingers at anyone specific, nor are they getting fingers pointed back, so WHY won't they tell the truth (assuming they're not, which I do think is the case)?

I'll use an extreme example to try to explain what I meant. If 100% of NFL players answered "100%" to the question of "what % of NFL players do you believe to be taking steroids", that'd clearly raise more than a few eyebrows. I realize the "highest" answer choice in this poll is "greater than 30%" (which is silly), but I think this idea still holds a little bit of water. If the "general consensus" among NFL players (as published by an opinion poll) is "oh yeah, we're mostly decent guys who are clean, and I should know" (since NFL players surely have their finger on the pulse of PED usage in their sport to some degree), the numbers paint a very different picture.

I'm not saying this is some concerted effort among NFL players to trick the public or anything. And maybe the "maximum %" choice for an answer was deliberately set laughingly low by the pollsters. But I still think that the expected response to this question was received, and that it should in no way be construed as either the true state of PED usage, nor the true beliefs/attitudes of the players.

A cynic at 26, I know.

[Daisy]

The credence people gives to opinion polls baffles me.

I echo this sentiment.

[gh]

Remember the scorn heaped on Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco when they gave estimates on baseball usage, and then retracted.... only to have the truth come out years later that they may have been low in their thinking.

[Marlow]

The credence people gives to opinion polls baffles me.

Whenever I am asked my opinion in any context, I always answer with the Godshonest truth. I take it this is a rarity?

{unless, of course, the question is, does this make my butt look big?] :P

[KevinM]

The credence people gives to opinion polls baffles me.

Whenever I am asked my opinion in any context, I always answer with the Godshonest truth. I take it this is a rarity?

Answering with the "Godshonest truth" is irrelevant if it's nothing more than a guess. The players are being asked to report on a certain behavior of others -- a behavior that is quite likely to be hidden by those who participate in it. I also just don't think people are very good making guesses on percentages like this.

[Marlow]

The players are being asked to report on a certain behavior of others -- a behavior that is quite likely to be hidden by those who participate in it.

They know . . .

[KevinM]

The players are being asked to report on a certain behavior of others -- a behavior that is quite likely to be hidden by those who participate in it.

They know . . .

But you're still putting way too much faith in people's ability to accurately place these percentages (not to mention the internal bias that many are going to have that prevents the players from answering honestly when it will reflect badly on them).

[Marlow]

The players are being asked to report on a certain behavior of others -- a behavior that is quite likely to be hidden by those who participate in it.

They know . . .

But you're still putting way too much faith in people's ability to accurately place these percentages (not to mention the internal bias that many are going to have that prevents the players from answering honestly when it will reflect badly on them).

Perhaps. I think it's more a 'Code of Silence' thing.

[BisonHurdler]

They know . . .

Which makes the poll results that much more laughable . . .

[croflash]

This is such a pointless survey because the percentages are made up.

Another question is whether people even care about drug use in the NFL.