Indianapolis Colts
Weslye Saunders has been suspended by NFL officials after he was found in violation of the league’s banned
performance enhancing substances.
Saunders will miss eight games without pay when the regular season begins. He won’t be eligible to play until after the Colts’ game Nov. 3 against Houston.
This isn’t the first time Saunders was caught doping. Last year the league passed down a four-game suspension for violating the same drug policy. He was subsequently released by the Pittsburgh Steelers and signed five days later with the Colts.
Saunders has a history of getting in trouble. Back in South Carolina he was kicked off the team after an NCAA investigation found that he had contact with an agent. Saunders left school his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft.
Democracy needs journalism it can trust.
This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.
For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.
Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.
We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.
If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.