Falcons' 400-Pounder's Weight Loss Pills Are Trouble

Grady Jackson is waiting to hear from the NFL about a potential four-game suspension after he apparently tested positive for a weight-loss pill that contains a substance that can also be used to mask steroids.

In Jackson's case, it's a pretty convincing easy to believe that Jackson was trying to shed a few of the 400+ pounds that make him morbidly obese rather than trying to mask a steroid--he's looked like a pregnant woman carrying twins for several years. Jackson is very strong, and he's pretty nimble for a defensive tackle his size, but mostly, he's really, really fat. And considering that Jackson has gotten plenty of heat for his weight in the past, it's not unlikely that he would be trying to figure out some kind of way to cut some weight.

Jackson's agent said that "He is not being suspended." But the agent wouldn't explain further, so it's not clear if that means that Jackson isn't suspended now, or that the NFL won't suspend him at all. It's worth nothing that usually the NFL doesn't care if you have an explanation for using an illegal substance, and it doesn't matter if you didn't know the ingredient was in a pill that it shouldn't have been in.

But if Jackson does end up being suspended, it would be a big loss for the Falcons. The Falcons run defense started to fall apart when Bobby Petrino was dumb enough to cut Jackson last year. This year the Falcons are a much better defense, but they're still not very deep, so it's not like the Falcons could easily find someone to fill Jackson's 35-40 snaps a game.