You can watch it live here. Comments and thoughts after the jump.
Before it starts, let me add that the following terms have been outlawed on BRB: steroids, AP, Brian Cushing, and bra. The use of any of these earn you the banhammer. Now on to the press conference!
Starting:
Cushing opening statement:Happy to be a Texan.
Presented medical and scientific data to the league for his appeal. Definitely maintaining his innocence. Feels bad for the Texans.
Cushing: Says he tested positive for HCG. Test in September, notified in October (WOW!).
Cushing: Stunned when his appeal was denied. Maintains innocence.
Q: How do we believe you? Cushing: Many different ways to enter my body. He played the whole season worried he had tumors. Worried about long-term health.
"I would never do anything to cheat this game."
Q: What supplements do you take? Cushing: Proteins, amino acids. Inferred this is overseen by the Texans.
Q: Rumors that you've been involved with this kind of activity. Cushing: I've been clean otherwise.
Q: What about people like Jay Glazer? Cushing: He needed to protect himself.
Q: Can you explain about the tumors? Cushing: (Didn't answer) Talked about how he'll continue to do everything he is doing today.
Cushing: HCG can only get into my body via injection or because of a tumor. I don't inject, and that's why I am worried about my health.
Q: What about Florio saying you should give back the award? Cushing: Why? I didn't do anything wrong, and I maintain this.
Q: HCG still in your system? Cushing: Haven't been tested recently.
DeMeco Ryans has now taken the stand.
Ryans: We are going to miss him.
Q: DeMeco, do you believe? Ryans: Nobody works as hard. I believe him. I don't think he would cheat the game.
Note: Unless something else happens, stopping now.
My summary: He seemed pretty genuine in his responses. But, there's a lot lacking, from the medical details to the delay in the appeals process. There was both a damn long delay between getting results and then the appeals process. There are a lot of details we may never hear, and I have a feeling that any we get will be tainted by opinion. Cushing did seem to be concerned about his health, which sticks out to me (for both good and bad reasons).
Overall? I don't think we learned anything new, but Cushing came out of his corner fighting.