Two local athletes have now been suspended for taking banned substances. Cardinals Star Patrick Peterson was suspended six games to start this season for performance enhancing drugs and now Suns star DeAndre Ayton could miss up to 25 games for testing positive for a diuretic.
Similar circumstances but how each handled it couldn't have been more different. DeAndre Ayton immediately released a statement following the news taking full responsibility,
“I want to apologize to my family, the entire Suns organization, my teammates, partners, our fans and the Phoenix community," Ayton said in a statement. "This was an unintentional mistake and unfortunately I put something in my body that I was completely unaware of.
"I do understand the unfortunate impact that this has on so many others, and for that I am deeply sorry. I'm extremely disappointed that I've let my team down.
"I will continue to work with the NBPA to go through arbitration and am hopeful of a positive resolution."
That is how you are supposed to react to a situation like this if you are actually a grown adult you should take responsibility for what you did. Patrick Peterson seemingly didn’t do that.
After his suspension was announced he acted like a seven year old. He removed all mention of the Arizona Cardinals from his social media platforms and then asked for a trade. That is not the actions of a grown adult male that’s getting paid millions of dollars.
Peterson’s statement in the aftermath of his suspension coming down was this via the Arizona Cardinals official website,
“I'm deeply disappointed I am attached to something like this," Peterson said. "But now I'll put it behind me."
Not quite the same tone as DeAndre Ayton is it? Then as he returned from his suspension Patrick made comments that sounded like he was denying he took anything at all.
“I have no reason to cheat, I work my tail off too hard each and every offseason to be in this position. It’s just an unfortunate situation that I wish I could have back but I can’t. I’m moving forward and looking forward to the Giants.”
If he had no reason to cheat than why did he test positive? Pat’s been in the league for nearly a decade and acted like this while Ayton is playing in his second season and reacted to his suspension with the utmost professionalism.
More athletes need to learn from the 21-year old Ayton and not the 29-year old Patrick Peterson.
The Freaks reacted live to Ayton’s suspension on Thursday.