Did y’all see Rothstein article on Calvin and Rob second careers ?
They’re making an investment in Michigan too.
Interesting to me tho - as one considers drug policy , does any billionaire owner really want a player like Calvin ( first ballot hall of famer ) to miss games due to a positive marijuana test ?
In hindsight , hearing that he used while playing yet never was disciplined for it …
Knowing the demographic of the players within the league ( mostly young ) and it didn’t seem to effect his prep or performance …the way alcohol has effected availability …
Add the way general American’s use recreational drugs …
It seems a bit self defeating for owners to not move towards more progressive marijuana policies … rather than cost the teams’ talent and millions for something that’s not as easily defined as a negative to what it once was -
The question on pain management and other drugs used to manage pain vs accessibility etc that was brought up in the article also seem noteworthy.
If I was an NFL player, I would want the option of marijuana over taking countless pills everyday. Marijuana does wonders for relaxing the body and helping ease pain. Even joint pain is helped because marijuana helps with inflammation.
So yeah, I think players should have that option. Pain killers are proven to have some serious long term side effects.
From
The article
One thing stood out was
Calvin and Sims talking about the ease of getting those pills while on the team
Versus what it’s like for an x player
So the marijuana could make it easier , safer and more assessable
Over stronger prescription based medication.
I feel that football players and everybody else needs to show up for work clean and sober. Now if a player or person wants to fire it up or have a few cold ones on their off days, Its nobody’s business. Just report to work clean and sober. If you abuse it though , to the point you cannot perform your job, then the consequence of that behavior is you will get cut/fired , lose your job. same goes for prescription drugs
@wesleysh21 has pointed this out several times… the only guys who get caught for weed and subsequently punished via the NFL’s dope testing are the ones who can’t not smoke.
It’s frankly a good compromise with the NFLPA where the NFL can maintain that it does drug testing and the players aren’t really at risk if they’re anything resembling responsible.
I suspect this will change over the next decade or so, but the NFL can’t lead the charge and still maintain the corporate sponsorships. It’s better for both owners and players for the league to be a bit of a laggard here.
I don’t really think not testing for marijuana is going to cost corporate sponsors especially if viewership and reach stay up.
The testing becomes more of a test of - can you follow the obvious work around rules because we don’t really want to bust you for this when we know players and coaches and owners across the league probably use.
The NBA demo skews way younger and is far more narrow than the NFL. The NFL appeals to a far broader swath of Americans.
You can see this reflected in the TV contracts. NBA is $2.7 billion per year. NFL is currently around $8 billion a year, and the projections are that this will go north of $10 billion in the next contract.
It should be readily apparent why the NFL is hesitant to rock the boat.
That’s exactly what it is. And frankly, anyone who gets busted for it has a real problem with self control and chemicals that’s independent of the substance.
I feel like this is a big sssumption without knowing what is normal.
Sure it’s spectacular Brady plays until he’s 50 and then nfl turns a blind eye to him even while it rode his popularity because it turns out he was on juice and probably teams close up him , doctors could tell something g was up -/-
Not saying he is , but using America’s past time baseball and how the owners treated Barry Sammy and Mark as an example we see owners who don’t really want to know
Nil so scared to rock the boat they don’t discipline Chad wheeler
Since we have no idea how many all pros puff puff pass
It’s hard to assume what’s normal
And while fans might differ from nba to nfl
The talent base draws from same demographics filled with young players
But I guess the nfl fan base you speak of that’s afraid to be rocked -
How old is this fan base ? 50 is profession career age prime earning years
I think it’s old time thing that’s in the CBA because owners back then added it and now it’s a leverage point to be negotiated
Even If it has little baring on performance
And they don’t legislate alcohol.
Which as recent as days before super bowl
Has shown how dangerous and impactful it can be
