The central issue is the use of a second cup for the urine test, which was taken in September.
"The tester grabbed the cup, an unsealed cup, and poured my urine into it," Sherman said. "That's a violation, but the league says they can do that and get away with it. I may still lose because it is up to the league. It's not a neutral court."
The outcome of the appeal may not entirely depend on whether a violation occurred in the testing protocol, but rather if that violation would invalidate the result of the test.
Sherman said the appeals process — which is dictated by the terms of the collective-bargaining agreement — is stilted against the player contesting the result.
"It's definitely not fair," he said. "If it was in a neutral court, I'd be very confident that I would win. But it's not a neutral court, so you have to deal with what you have to deal with."