Report: Seahawks’ Brandon Browner facing one-year suspension
Nov 25, 2013, 4:39 PM | Updated: 6:02 pm
By Danny O’Neil
Brandon Browner’s season was already in doubt because of a groin injury.
It’s a suspension, however, that will end it according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Seahawks cornerback will be suspended for one year for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, according to a report that first aired on “Monday Night Countdown.”
It would mark the second time Browner has been suspended in less than a calendar year. He was suspended for the final four games of the 2012 season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
This suspension will be under the substance-abuse policy, according to Schefter. That’s the same policy under which cornerback Walter Thurmond will be suspended, according to a report Sunday from the NFL Network.
Schefter’s report came after a series of allegations and denials over Monday afternoon. It began with a report from the NFL Network that Browner was facing a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Browner denied that report via his Twitter account, stating, “I’m not facing suspension for PEDs, it’s sad the NFL is reporting this.” Browner’s agent, Pete Schaffer, also stated on Twitter that Browner was not facing a PED suspension.
There was no immediate response to Schefter’s report, which stated Browner’s appeal hearing had already been conducted.
Browner, 29, sat out Seattle’s last game after suffering a strained groin during the Seahawks’ Week-10 victory over Atlanta. There was serious question whether he would be able to return from that injury, coach Pete Carroll having indicated there was also some tissue damage in addition to the strained groin muscle.
Browner is in his third season with the Seahawks and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent. In the scrutiny over his PED suspension last year, it was reported Browner was in the league’s substance-abuse program dating back to his time with Denver in 2005 and 2006.
