Bears Blitz

Published by Brian Tuohy on December 17, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

By now, most of you are aware of the arrest of former Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd on federal drug charges. Hurd was seeking to obtain 1,000 pounds of marijuana and between five and 10 kilos of cocaine a week for distribution in and around Chicago.

His biggest mistake was attempting to purchase these drugs from an undercover FBI agent.

While the FBI appears to have done its job to a “T” in arresting Hurd and his co-conspirator, there is one entity completely missing from this case. That would be NFL Security.

NFL Security is basically the law enforcement arm of the NFL. It acts as a semi-secret police force with at least two agents stationed in each city the NFL has a franchise as well as being headquartered in the NFL’s home office in New York City.

Members of NFL Security are often former members of the FBI, CIA, and DEA.

One would think that if the NFL employs such persons within its Security Division, the arrest of Sam Hurd as a virtual drug kingpin would not come as a shock and a surprise. But that is what the NFL would have us believe.

In fact, can anyone out there point to a single case where NFL Security tipped off law enforcement to the illegal activities of one of their players, coaches or referees? I doubt it as I’ve spent the past six years looking for such a case to no avail.

But there’s a very valid reason for this. NFL Security isn’t assigned to do that job. They exist to cover up such crimes, working in liaison with their law enforcement and media contacts to do just that.

The Hurd arrest is a perfect example of this. Instead of handing Hurd over to federal authorities, NFL Security was supposedly unaware of his drug dealing. Now, they are pulling out stops to downplay this scandal.

Why? Because of reports out of Chicago that some of Hurd’s customers were other NFL players.

And not just a few. According to one report, the number of NFL players Hurd sold to was in double-digits.

When Chicago Bears GM Jerry Angelo was questioned about this report, he didn’t deny it. Instead Angelo responded by saying, “I can’t talk about that.”

Why not? Is it because it’s true?

Hurd’s attorney Brett Greenfield was quoted in an article at SI.com stating, “Sam has asked me to address one point, with respect to the rumors that Sam has been supplying drugs to other members of the NFL, out of respect to the NFL, out of respect to teammates and out of respect to other players, he 100 percent denies that allegation. It is patently and totally false. It just didn’t happen.”

Are we really to believe that? Because in the lead-up to Hurd’s arrest, he told an undercover agent that he himself focused on the “higher-end deals.” Who were those higher-end buyers? Players, perhaps? Who else would Hurd know with the kind of money necessary to purchase the vast amount of drugs he was seeking to acquire?

And if that is in fact the case, that other NFL players were customers of Hurd, then besides taking a closer look at NFL Security, we also need to eye the league’s vaunted drug testing policy as no player has recently tested positive and/or been suspended for these types of “street” drugs.

But the NFL’s drug testing program is mostly a public relations campaign meant to give the illusion of a clean game. It’s the same sort of trick the NFL employs with its security division…and we’ve just seen that bubble pop.

What the future holds in this case will be interesting to see as Hurd faces upwards of 40 years in prison if convicted. And I’m certain the NFL won’t want to see him pleading this out if it means rolling over on other, bigger names within the NFL.

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