FanPost

The Simple Story on the Mathis Suspension

Namely:


1) Mathis and his wife used fertility treatments in the past.


2) When females use fertility drugs, they are statistically much more likely to conceive twins. (Because when females use fertility drugs, more than one egg is typically released or splits.)


3) As a result of these treatments, they had twins


4) Mathis’ mother contracted throat cancer, and he and his wife wanted to give her another grandchild before she potentially passed away.


5) Mathis’ wife was unable to go through fertility treatment a second time because multiple births would have been dangerous for her.


6) As a result, Mathis decided to take the fertility drugs and checked with a specialist


7) He was prescribed clomid, which is used off label as a male fertility drug (like how zoloft, prozac, etc are used off label for things like migraines). This usage is common, and basic research will show you that.


8) Mathis impregnated his wife around the time of the treatments


9) His doctor says the treatment would not have affected his numbers because it’s not performance enhancing.

10) His doctor issued a sworn statement to the NFL as well as all of Mathis' medical records to show that it wasn't a PED and he didn't take it long.


11) Mathis should have checked with the NFL. In that way he is wrong, but the implementation of the rules in this instance are draconian.


Supporting information:

The Mathis family used fertility drugs in the past, but his wife couldn't take them this time due to a medical condition:

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2014/05/16/indianapolis-colts-robert-mathis-suspended-performance-enhancing-drugs/9187069/

Mathis's mother contracted throat cancer, and they wanted another child in the event she passed:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10943493/robert-mathis-indianapolis-colts-suspended-four-games-peds

Clomid is used off-label as a male fertility drug (credit to PGlivesclosetome and ActionOxford):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16422830

http://urologytimes.modernmedicine.com/urology-times/news/modernmedicine/modern-medicine-news/clomiphene-may-offer-alternative-treating-low

Finally, the almighty Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clomifene

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.