It's also stupid for a guy making millions of dollars a year to take a substance which creates an unknown effect in his system. I call BS....QOUTE]
Maybe so, but this guy is pretty young. Were you always as cautious and responsible and wise at that young of an age? If you ask the team trainer and he says it looks fine does this account for anything? Maybe Merriman himself was unaware this could happen, otherwise he would have been more careful.
While it's true that I wasn't as cautious at Merriman's age as I am now, your line of questioning overlooks the fact that Merriman is a multi-millionaire athlete playing playing in a league which has some very clear-cut guidelines pertaining to substances and the legalities thereof. Merriman had business to determine the legality (or lack thereof) of the substances prior to using them.
If the team trainer gave him the go-ahead, then let's see the proof. Shouldn't there be some sort of official letterhead accompanying the trainer's certification of legality of the substance?
Further down the road, shouldn't there be some sort of repercussions against said trainer, had he given poor guidance to Merriman? Perhaps a lawsuit against that trainer is/should be forthcoming (for lost paychecks due to bad info cauing bad tests)?
I'm not ready to proclaim Merriman guilty of anything other than poor judgement at this point. But if further inquiries offer proof of Merriman's attempt to skirt the system via masking agents, I submit that a 4-game suspension isn't enough.