A report says that the Tyrann Mathieu suspension is for use of synthetic marijuana. The LSU football world is panicking over the suspensions of the Honey Badger and two other LSU players, as first reported by the LSU Reveille.
Internet message boards have been circulating a rumor this afternoon that the suspensions are for testing positive for synthetic marijuana, and the New Orleans Time-Picayune now cites a source that says the failed test was indeed for synthetic pot.
Synthetic marijuana has become popular among both professional and amateur athletes over the past five years because it contains no THC, and thus does not show up on drug tests. But law authorities -- and apparently drug testing technology -- has been catching up with the new synthetic strains. The substance -- also known as spice -- is now illegal in most states (including Louisiana), and is on the NCAA's banned substance list. But until now -- assuming the Times-Picayune report is true -- it was not known that drug testing technology could detect the synthetic drug.
Mathieu has posted twice to Twitter in the past two hours:
Tyrann Mathieu: If you don't have anything positive to say just quit it, Life is a long test full of obstacles and split second choices..
Tyrann Mathieu: Look in the face of death and took it's mask off....
The most recent tweet is a response to the negative response Mathieu has been receiving on social media and, it seems, an acknowledgement of the situation. The second tweet is a line from a Lil Wayne song.
Not unexpectedly, the reports have caused widespread panic among LSU football fans. The greatest concern among Tigers faithful seems to be about how long the suspensions will be (i.e. will they miss the Alabama game or not), while many other fans have called Mathieu and teammates selfish, or worried that they have tarnished the image of the LSU program, which was already recovering from a preseason bar fight involving multiple members of the LSU team, including then-starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson.
LSU coach Les Miles has a regularly scheduled press conference tonight at 7 p.m., where he is expected to address the suspensions.
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