Getty Chris Long retired from the Eagles after the 2018 season.
It’s no secret a good portion of NFL stars rely on marijuana to help them recover. The bruising hits they absorb on the football field put their bodies in a constant state of shock. Sometimes, they just need to relax without pain.
Yet the league refuses to revise its outdated drug policies and help improve the lives of those making them millions. Some players are getting fed up and starting to fight back. Former Eagles defensive end Chris Long has been pretty vocal on the subject and now he’s no longer mincing words.
“It’s pointless,” Long said. “These are good people. I’m a good person and I smoke weed.”
Long, who retired after the 2018 season, went on to say that the NFL’s current policy is “dumb” and “arbitrary.”
“I don’t speak on behalf of the PA [Players Association] or nothing like that. I just think it’s dumb,” Long told Sports Illustrated. “I think it’s arbitrary. You’re tarnishing the brand and popularity of some guys who could be great stars in the league, but you’re making them these poster children for the devil’s lettuce when you pop them with a test.”
Long was expounding on comments he made back in May during an appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show” when he opined that marijuana wasn’t nearly as harmful of a drug as alcohol. In fact, the 11-year NFL veteran said he wouldn’t even call weed a drug.
“I’m a good person and I smoke weed,” @JOEL9ONE
Follow the Heavy on NFL Facebook page for all the latest stories, rumors and viral content!
What is the NFL Policy on Marijuana Use?
Drug tests are random in the NFL, so players don’t know when they are coming. The league posts a note, on official letterhead, in a player’s locker stall and they are required to submit a urine sample for testing. That’s it. Done.
Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, a first positive test for marijuana nets enrollment in the substance-abuse program without a suspension, while a second positive gets a two-game fine and a third one a four-game fine. There is no actual suspension until a fourth failed test when the league doles out a four-game ban — and then it’s 10 games after that, followed by possible expulsion.
But the NFL has stated on several occasions that it is prepared to be more lenient on its marijuana policy, especially in states where the drug is legal. According to Pro Football Talk, measures are being planned for the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2020.
Per a league source, the NFL is prepared to make major concessions regarding the substance-abuse policy, especially as it relates to marijuana. The details of the concessions aren’t known. A complete abandonment (and implicit legalization) of marijuana is possible.
Rob Gronkowski Partners with CBDMEDIC
Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski recently announced that he has been using Cannabidiol, better known as CBD oil. He has struck up a partnership with Abacus Health Products to advocate for CBDMEDIC products. These are topical CBD products, devoid of any THC, and the company does not offer any medical marijuana products.
While the products are legal in the United States — CBD oil is not marijuana — they are currently on the list of banned substances in the NFL. Gronkowski is lending his name to the product as a healthier alternative for players to deal with pain. He even has a clever new nickname: Mr. Recovery.
At a @cbdmedic_pharma press conference in NYC, ex-#Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski comes out as a CBD advocate: “I’m here to appeal to the sports governing bodies to update their positions on CBD (so it can be) used by all players. … For the first time in a decade, I’m pain-free.”
“I want to be clear to my fans: I needed to recover,” Gronkowski said, via Boston.com. “I was not in a good place. Football was bringing me down. And I didn’t like it. I was losing that joy in life.”
Gronkowski admitted he was struggling to sleep at night and couldn’t bear the pain any longer stemming from a thigh bruise he suffered in Super Bowl LIII. CBD oil has helped with all that and he expressed regret about not being able to take it during his playing days.
READ NEXT: Hall of Famer Guarantees Super Bowl for Eagles with Jadeveon Clowney