Eric Reid claims NFL drug-tested him for fifth time after his ejection vs. Steelers

Eric Reid had less than his share of fans after the Carolina Panthers’ blowout loss to the Steelers, but he did draw some interest from the NFL. Again.

After he was ejected from the Panthers’ 52-21 loss for a dirty hit on Ben Roethlisberger, Reid said after the game that the NFL had administered a random drug test to him for the fifth time since he rejoined the Panthers. The safety didn’t seem very amused.

Eric Reid takes another shot at the NFL

Reid hasn’t exactly been the NFL’s favorite player since he rejoined the league on a one-year deal with the Panthers. He has continued to kneel during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and racial inequality, openly feuded with Malcolm Jenkins and the Players Coalition and still has a grievance pending against the league.

One player even speculated that the cause of a weak safety market in free agency last offseason was due to teams trying to look like they weren’t colluding against Reid when he was a free agent. So, naturally, if Reid really is receiving the nuisance of a drug test many more times than the average players, he might have reason to think the system isn’t on the level.

What are the odds of Eric Reid getting drug-tested five times?

So, to figure out the rough odds of Reid receiving this many drug tests during his short stint with the Panthers, we have to consider a few numbers.

First, Reid joined the Panthers six weeks ago on Sept. 27. Second, NFL drug-testing policy dictates that 10 players from each team, supposedly chosen at random by a computer, are selected for drug-testing each week of the season. The pool of players that may be selected for testing include the 53 players on the Panthers’ active roster, the nine players they have on reserve and their 10 practice-squad players, adding up to 72 players.

Reid said he had been drug-tested five times since he joined the Panthers, but one of those would have been his mandatory annual test that is basically part of his physical. That would leave him with four tests that fall into that weekly category.

Basically, we’re talking about the odds of a man hitting on roughly one-in-seven chances four different times over the course of six opportunities. Let’s just say the odds of that are long enough that it’s hard to believe in coincidences.

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