Talent. By definition, talent is only as simple as a natural skill. But when natural skill causes an athlete to break two franchise records in one night, why does it suddenly feel normal to question if these records are legitimate or not?

As of the Saturday night game against the Detroit Lions on December 30th, Dallas Wide Receiver Ceedee Lamb broke two Cowboys franchise records with his 1,651 receiving yards and 122 receptions for the 2023 season. Both records were previously held by retired Hall of Fame legend Michael Irvin at 1,603 receiving yards and 111 receptions in 1995.¹ The Dallas Cowboys walked into the game with a winning record of 11-5 and appeared to already be on a roll both offensively and defensively. Breaking these records just seemed to be just another pin on the board of successes this season. But instead of celebrating their victory while most of the NFL community congratulated Lamb, speculation overshadowed everything else.

Just a few hours after his noteworthy game performance, Ceedee Lamb posted on his Instagram page that he had received a notice from the NFL stating that he would be required to participate in a “random” drug test. The celebration was shattered in just moments when the media immediately questioned trust in Lamb’s natural abilities to accomplish this. The post read, “Waste no time huh? @nfl.”² The results of the test are yet to go public, and while the NFL claimed that it had been a random selection, fans everywhere can’t help but wonder if there is something more to the story. Or was this an overreaction by the media to gain readers?

All this serves to leave fans wondering: Is this what will happen every time a record is broken? Will their accomplishments and integrity constantly also be questioned?

The real question is ‘Why are we so quick to speculate?

The answer: Human nature.

The idea of sports “doping” has circulated the sports world for years now, going back to the 1968 Summer Olympics scandal where Hans Gunnar Lilijenwell tested positive for the use of PEDs. But the media coverage of anti-doping violations in professional sports has spiked tremendously since. It’s not the number of anti-doping violations that are on the rise, but the coverage of them. So the real question is, is the media fueling this distrust in athletes? Is it just human nature to doubt a person’s natural abilities? It is both.
The halt of celebrating athletes’ achievements overall because of this speculation is ridiculous. The same achievements that we encourage people to go after. And all because we can’t possibly believe that they did it on their own when they finally do it. Overall, that sounds pretty hypocritical doesn’t it?

This reaction to the accomplishments of others now truly begs the question of to what extent we are willing to weaponize this newfound doubt. The truth is, if this pattern of suspicion goes on, who’s to say that it won’t just be professional athletes that we’re questioning, but college - or even high school athletes too.
If we want this nonsense to end, it is up to us as fans to start celebrating accomplishments instead of letting an underlying jealousy question these feats of greatness we are lucky enough to see with our own eyes. And when the test results come in, we all might just owe Ceedee Lamb and his reputation a huge apology.

Stiff-Arming his opponent, Ceedee Lamb (88) breaks through the Lion defense and heads downfield for a touchdown.