Wide receiver Victor Bolden Jr., who currently sits on the San Francisco 49ers practice squad, was forced to sit out the first four games of the regular season due to a violation of the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. It cost him a quarter of his salary this year.
Bolden insisted that he unknowingly used a supplement that potentially contained a substance banned by the NFL. He sued Rogue Nutrition, the company that creates the product Trident Creatine, in an effort to recoup his lost wages.
Bolden's violation was due to testing positive for Ostarine. He had the supplement from Rogue Nutrition tested, and the results reportedly showed that it indeed contained Ostarine, leading to the lawsuit.
Long snapper Kyle Nelson may soon be following in Bolden's footsteps.
The NFL suspended Nelson, also without pay, 10 games for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances. Why was the punishment more severe than Bolden's? It's because the violation is Nelson's second. His first was as a rookie in 2011.
Nelson, too, plans to fight back should tests reveal a supplement he was assured to be safe actually contained a banned substance.
"I have been taking the same supplements for my entire time with the 49ers, while undergoing often simultaneous testing by the NFL with no issues," Nelson said on Tuesday via a statement issued by the team. "I do not deviate from my nutrition routine, and I would never knowingly take a banned substance. I am currently having the supplements tested, and I hope to uncover the cause of the positive test. When the product is identified I fully intend to seek legal action against the manufacturer to protect against this happening to other players in the future."
It's entirely possible Nelson's time with the 49ers has come to a premature end. He is scheduled to become a free agent in March. Should he find himself on an NFL roster, whether in San Francisco or elsewhere, he will be eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games before resuming his suspension at the start of the 2019 season. Nelson's unavailability for the first six games of next season could impact his value.
"Hopefully this serves as a reminder to all of our players that they need to take the proper steps to know exactly what they are putting in their bodies," general manager John Lynch said via a statement.
Lynch's words were very similar to his statement released when Bolden's suspension was handed down on June 1.