It’s an unusual event when a player has an NFL-imposed suspension rescinded before his appeal hearing even occurs, but that’s apparently what happened to the New England Patriots’ Alan Branch.
The 10th-year defensive tackle appeared to be set to miss four games for what was reported as a positive drug test. Branch had filed for an appeal, but before that even occurred the NFL reviewed the case and cleared him of any wrongdoing. This is a very rare thing in the NFL.
Branch, 31, was told two weeks ago that he had failed a drug test, and according to the Boston Herald, Branch appealed it immediately thereafter because there were traces of marijuana in his system from a previously failed test.