More Time for Travis Henry Owners

According to an article in today's Denver Post, Travis Henry's appeal hearing with the New York state court has been moved to November 16, 2007. This is fantastic news for Henry owners who believed they may be without Henry as early as Week 10. Should Henry lose his appeal, the NFL would likely suspend him. Assuming that he appeals this decision, it would be at least another 1-2 weeks before his suspension went into effect. This means that Week 12 against Chicago is the earliest he would begin serving his suspension.

While many in the media seem to think an eventual suspension is inevitable, I have a more optimistic outlook on Travis Henry's case. Travis was drug tested in August pursuant to a child support action taken against him in New York. Results of this test show extremely low levels of THC in his urine. Upon hearing of these results, the NFL immediately requested the "B" urine sample to conduct their own tests.

One tenet of Henry's defense is that he was potentially denied sufficient representation when the NFL tested his "B" sample. When a player submits a urine sample, it is separated into two separate samples called the "A" bottle sample and the "B" bottle sample. The NFL Drug Policy states that, once a player has failed his "A" bottle sample, he may request the "B" bottle sample be tested. According to this document, "The player may not be present at the "B" bottle test, but, at his own expense, he may be represented at the "B" bottle Test by a qualified toxicologist not affiliated with a commercial laboratory." Henry provided such a toxicologist, but the NFL claims he was affiliated with an outside lab. If Henry can prove the NFL inappropriately dismissed his expert, he may defeat the charge.

A second defense affronted by Henry is that the THC levels in his urine were so small that they could only have been caused by second-hand exposure to the drug. To corroborate this claim, Henry has submitted polygraph test results and a hair sample. If Henry can establish that the first test was a false positive, he may convince the New York courts to suppress the "B" sample test results altogether.

Henry is certainly the underdog in this process, but to suggest that his suspension is inevitable is premature. If supported by the evidence, Henry has some strong arguments which could end up saving his season (and probably his career). Regardless, today's news is good for fantasy owner's who now get to ignore this nightmare for another two weeks.