Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf went off during the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in Salt Lake City Friday night with a performance that earned him the game’s MVP title.
A few days later, Metcalf was informed that he gets to celebrate with a random drug test from the NFL.
The receiver shared a screenshot on his Instagram story Sunday of a message from an NFL drug test collector. The message said he had been selected for a Performance Enhancing Substance test, according to Jordan Schultz of The Score.
DK Metcalf’s NBA All-Star Celebrity performance
Metcalf scored 20 points and recorded 10 rebounds and four blocks in Friday’s game, according to ESPN.
After his coaches Giannis, Thanasis and Alex Antetokounmpo handed him his award, he told ESPN that he didn’t enter the game with any intentions of winning MVP.
“It feels great,” he said. “I never thought I’d win MVP. I just came here to hoop around, but it feels great.”
Here are some of his highlights:
Are NFL players drug tested during the offseason?
Even after they take their last snap of the season, NFL players are still subject to PES testing.
Players can be selected for tests up to six times during the offseason, according to a memo from the NFL Players Association. Once selected, they are required to respond to the request from the collector and complete the test within 24 hours after the request was made.
If a player fails to appear for testing, they face a $25,000 fine for their first offense. Failing to appear for a second time results in a fine of two-weeks worth of pay, per the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances.
Players are required to comply with the testing policy even while traveling internationally.
How NFL players feel about the league’s random drug tests
Metcalf wasn’t the only NFL player to receive a questionably timed test request this week. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt received a text Tuesday notifying him that he had been selected for a test, according to his Twitter.
But the timing for Watt’s request is questionable for a different reason. Watt retired from the NFL after he played his last game for the Arizona Cardinals on Jan. 8.
NFL players, including Watt, have long questioned the randomness of the tests. One day after recording three sacks against the Denver Broncos on Dec. 18, Watt was asked to take a performance enhancing drug test.
“I think I’ve been ‘randomly selected’ after every three sack game of my career,” he tweeted with a screenshot of the text message from the collector.
After the Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown scored three touchdowns and posted 156 receiving yards with only six receptions in October, Brown was selected to take a drug test, NBC Sports reported.