Odell Beckham Jr. Has Been Suspended for Six Games for a Completely Avoidable Reason

One person who is probably looking forward to the end of 2025 is NFL wide receiver Odell Beckam Jr. This is simply not his year. According to The Guardian, he was named in a lawsuit that alleged Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs initiated a gang-rape against a woman in California. This came to light in March, but the lawsuit was initially filed in October 2024. Beckham Jr. denied any involvement in a post to X, stating he had never met the person who filed the lawsuit.

Four days after Beckham Jr. shared his statement on social media, the Ravens released him, reportedly for financial reasons. He officially became an unrestricted free agent and has yet to find a new team. That didn't stop the NFL from suspending the veteran player in October due to his use of PED. What is that? Keep reading for more information.

In the world of sports and beyond, PED stands for performance-enhancing drugs, the most common of which are anabolic steroids. The Mayo Clinic defines anabolic steroids as "drugs that athletes take to boost their strength and add muscle," which act similarly to testosterone. Not only do people who use anabolic steroids build muscle, but they also tend to develop a deeper voice and facial hair.

Athletes tend to take anabolic steroids that were created in a lab and help reduce the damage to a muscle that occurs during intense workouts. Football is a pretty intense workout. Since Beckham Jr. is a free agent, he's likely using them to build muscle. There are a lot of negative side effects that can occur while taking large doses of anabolic steroids, such as depression, issues with anger or violence, high blood pressure, and changes to the liver, to name a few.

While guesting on The Pivot Podcast, Beckham Jr. went into detail about his suspension, which he had not spoken about until this moment. Beckham Jr. said he wanted to be able to speak his truth and not hide from anything. When Beckham Jr. was playing with the Dolphins in 2024, he failed a PED test. What made this even harder, according to Beckham Jr., was that he claimed this was an accident.

Apparently, Beckham Jr. had been regularly subjected to PED tests for a decade, after he missed one due to the fact that he was not in the state at the time. It's a little unclear how this works, as Beckham Jr. was being a bit inside baseball, or in this case, inside football, while explaining why he was forced to test for PEDs.

Beckham Jr. goes on to say that he never failed a test in his life, until 2024. Before the season started, the wide receiver got bloodwork and found out his testosterone levels were low. Following this new information, he inquired about exemptions in order to get his testosterone levels regulated. He was told his testosterone levels were fine. When he tested again, they were high. That's when Beckham Jr. was told he tested positive for PED.