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Florida Gators Quarterback Will Grier’s Explanation for PED Suspension Raises More Questions

ByCaleb Calhoun|

Florida Gators quarterback Will Grier explained his PED suspension on Monday in a way that could raise even more questions about him.

A day after hearing from Will Grier and Florida Gators Head Coach Jim McElwain about Grier’s yearlong suspension due to PED use, we should not be satisfied.

In fact, we should be more suspicious.

Grier’s explanation is that he “took an over-the-counter supplement that had something in it” and did not clear it with Florida’s training staff. McElwain came in to call it an “honest mistake.”

Call me a skeptic, call me bias towards Tennessee, call me unfair. But at this point, Grier’s story is hard to believe.

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Grier apologists have already concocted a brilliant explanation around what happened, much like the way sacred historians used to created narratives around their Godly figures.

The new saying is that he took something over the counter for his flu before the Ole Miss game but did not clear it with the trainers. That’s all fine and dandy, but why would he not just come out and say it?

If somebody can show me any piece of evidence of that story, then rip this story to shreds all you want.

But I have not seen it yet, and so I remain skeptical.

As ESPN First Take’s Skip Bayless said, Grier’s story is an all-too-common cop-out for athletes at every level. So why could he simply not say what he was taking over the counter and what he was taking it for?

Adding to the chaos comes the Tweets from Scout reporter Amanda Wood.

Wood made it clear that three months ago that she heard somebody in Complete Nutrition had sold Grier something that had a warning on it about anti-doping.

Here are the Tweets from her.

Then came the report that he took Ligandrol, which was then denied by the Florida Gators. Wood then got a backlash from Florida fans as if she fabricated the story, but that seems highly unlikely for such a reporter to do, and as she clearly explained later with a follow-up essay that she tweeted, there were plenty of reasons not to reveal that story then.

Say what you want, but all of this is incredibly suspicious. It is also worth noting that he weighed 177 pounds when he first went to Florida, which can be verified on his Rivals profile here.

However, his profile on Gator Zone says he is now 203 pounds.

That’s a gain of 26 pounds. And of course, there is the most extreme report, which you can see here on College Spun, that suggested before any of this broke and without a hint of suspicion that Grier had gone from 172 pounds when he set foot on campus to 215 pounds this past offseason.

That is a gain of 43 pounds.

That story ran a little less than a month after Amanda Wood would have found out about him at Complete Nutrition, according to her Tweets.

Piecing this all together, it becomes much harder to say this was an “honest mistake” by Grier, particularly since his excuse is an age-old one.

Even beyond that, how much did the school know? How much did Jim McElwain know? We need to find out why there were initially contradictory reports about Grier using Ligandrol only to be refuted by the school.

Okay, fine. Then what was he using? Fans of teams that have lost to the Gators and the teams themselves deserve the right to know.

And if you are all wondering, yes I’m salty.

As noted yesterday, Grier led the Gators to a 28-27 comeback victory over the Tennessee Vols, and his play was sensational in that game. If he was on PED’s, that is a huge loss that could cost the Vols a shot at the SEC title game. And it kept the Florida streak alive.

But there is one way Grier can fix all of this. Just come out and say what you were on and why you were on it.

Otherwise, I reserve the right to remain suspicious.

Next: Vols vs. Spurrier: 10 Most Memorable Games

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