Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Jess Root

Kenyan Drake wins weekly rushing award; is subjected to ‘random’ drug test

For Arizona Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake’s stunning performance on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, he was rewarded with two things, although one is technically unrelated to the game.

After a 137-yard, four-touchdown game against the Cleveland Browns, Drake was named the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week for Week 15, as voted on by fans for the best performance by a running back.

As a result, A $2,000 donation will be made to the USO in Drake’s name through FedEx Cares. During the 2019-2020 NFL season, FedEx Cares will donate a total of $200,000 to the USO Pathfinder program, which provides resources and personalized services to assist service members and military spouses in their transition back to civilian life.

Drake also received notice of something else this week. He got a memo letting him know he was up for a drug test under the league’s drug-testing policy.

He shared the memo via his Instagram stories, which was caught by AZCentral reporter Katherine Fitzgerald. Drake clearly doesn’t think his selection was completely random, as noted by the quotation marks and emojis.

The league alleges the process for drug tests is completely random and generated by some algorithm. However, there have been many anecdotal cases where a player has a big game — perhaps a better performance than the norm — and then the following week his number comes up for a random drug test.

Coincidence? It is supposed to be, but do we know for sure?

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 252:

Ep. 251:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.