Ryan Braun: MLB Players Furious About Overturned Suspension

The outlook of steroid-testing by baseball players has certainly changed over the past few seasons.

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that a lot of players were very upset that Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension was overturned.

The decision was made Thursday to exonerate Braun after it was discovered that his positive sample was kept in the home of the person who collected it for 44 hours, instead of immediately being dropped off at a local FedEx office.

Braun was relieved to hear the news, saying he had the truth on his side.

Many current players did not share the same feeling.

Some were reportedly furious over the decision, even challenging Michael Weiner, the executive director of the MLB Players Association.

This would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.

The players union was very late to come around on the idea of testing players for steroids. They did not agree to implement the 50-game suspension rule for a positive test until after the 2005 season. At that point, the public had been calling for stringent testing for years.

With so many players using performance-enhancing drugs in the early 2000's, it made sense for the union to be against testing. Many did not want to get caught.

Now, the game is cleaner than it was a few years ago, and players want fans to recognize that fact.

If players are getting off on technicalities, it will be harder for people to believe that PEDs are truly out of the game.

A few Brewers' players have come out in support of Braun. Reliever John Axford and Nyjer Morgan both tweeted about their excitement over the decision.

The collector of Braun's sample, Dino Laurenzi Jr., has come out in defense of his actions.

The protocol has been in place since 2005 when I started with CDT and there have been other occasions when I have had to store samples in my home for at least one day, all without incident., said Laurenzi. I followed the same procedure in collecting Mr. Braun's sample as I did in the hundreds of other samples I collected under the program.

In order for the public to believe in Braun's innocence, they essentially have to accept that Laurenzi tampered with the sample, or allowed someone else to do so.

Otherwise, most fans will continue to look at Braun as a cheater.

Even worse, they will view the MLB drug policy as one that allows offenders to continue to play without facing any consequences.