Brian Cushing has made his presence felt at every stop of his football career. In 2004, he led Bergen Catholic to a Group IV State Championship over Don Bosco Prep. He became an All-American at USC and was named MVP of the Rose Bowl during his collegiate career. He dominated the AFC South as a Houston Texan after being selected 15th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. Now he is the center of a fire storm that has caused Associate Press Sports to re-vote on the Defensive Rookie of the Year Voting.

It was reported on May 7th by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Cushing tested positive for a performance enhancing substance during his Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign. It has since been determined that he tested positive for hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), a drug that is commonly taken by men after a steroid cycle to restore the bodies testosterone production. He flunked the drug test in September, but the news did not surface during the season because he appealed the test. Cushing will serve a four game suspension to begin the 2010 NFL season.

The voting for the AP awards took place in January at the conclusion of the regular season. Cushing won the original vote in a landslide, but now could be poised to lose the award based on the re-vote. The AP decided to cast a re-vote after several of their 50 voters expressed the sentiment that Cushing should be stripped of the award, most notably Peter King of Sports Illustrated. If this voting process concludes with Brian Cushing losing his award, it could open the door to future, and possibly past, award winners having their achievements taken away due to performance enhancer evidence.