“It Was Only Marijuana At The End Of The Day”
August 22nd, 2011
For those wondering what really was the deal with Tanard Jackson violating the NFL substance abuse policy three times and getting booted from the league, St. Pete Times beat writer Stephen Holder definitively laid it out for all during a live chat on TampaBay.com.
The NFL doesn’t announce details of how/what a player failed after testing. But Holder says marijuana was Jackson’s only infraction and Holder also offers a strong statement about other players blowing bongs but getting away with it.
Comment From MJMJ: Thanks again for doing this, Stephen. Props to you. How do you think the T-Jax situation plays out when/if he is reinstated? Who’s roster spot will he take?
Stephen F. Holder: I think he probably gets reinstated. It was only marijuana at the end of the day. I’m not defending it, I’m just saying that it’s not something many other guys in the league haven’t also done and gotten away with (trust me on that). Can’t’ say who’s spot he takes because I don’t know what the makeup of the safety position is going to be.
Holder’s “trust me on that” line was a bit troubling to Joe, only because Holder’s career bio on the Times website doesn’t list him as a beat writer for any other NFL team in his career. But perhaps Holder was referring to players using drugs before they got to the NFL.
Regardless, Joe’s not sure what the Bucs plan to do about Jackson, who could be reinstated with most of the 2011 season remaining. It would seem the like the Bucs would want to give him a shot, but it would have to make sense.
What could make the whole decision interesting is rookie Ahmad Black’s sprained ankle. Without having much time to show his value, Black, if he makes the Bucs’ roster, could be the odd man out if Jackson returns.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:33 am
I for one don’t think they should even test for pot. Period. Too many lives ruined for something that most of us have done.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:39 am
“But perhaps Holder was referring to players using drugs before they got to the NFL.”
To be fair to Holder, studies have estimated that around 10% of the general US population has used marijuana in the past month. The numbers go up if you’re talking about black males ages 18 – 25.
Even with drug testing, its likely the number of NFL players mirrors the general populations numbers.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:40 am
Holder is completely right. I’m not concerned that Tanard got caught once. I’m concerned that he got caught TWICE.
Regardless, I think we all know that a certain percentage (I’d guess 10%) of NFL players smoke occasionally. The difference is most known WHEN to smoke and when not to.
I do think that Tanard will be welcomed back with open arms. The question is what shape is he in and how much impact will he make this year.
It’s still got Top 10 Safety ability, and the Bucs aren’t going to pass on that if he’s still got it.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:41 am
It’s = He’s, of course.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:52 am
“It Was Only Marijuana At The End Of The Day”
What about at the start of the day? A little nose candy to get things rolling? Makes for a fun morning practice I bet.
Still, the “it’s only marijuana” doesn’t wash with me. TJax knew the rules and broke them three times. THREE FREAKING TIMES!
Do you really want someone that stupid and undependable to play for your team? Or is TJax learning disabled?
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:57 am
Matt:
Three times actually. When a player gets popped the first time, he just has a finger wagged in his face.
And to think he couldn’t put the bong down as he was in his contract year. How many millions of dollars did that cost him? SMDH.
Just hope for his sake that was some life-changing weed he had.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:19 pm
I’m sure his agent will try to get the Bucs to trade him to a team in California, cuz there he can get a prescription.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:25 pm
@Dew, I have to agree. Hey, like most who grew up in the 70’s, I smoked weed. Unlike Clinton, I DID inhale, plenty of times. I just don’t like the buzz, but to each his own.
Make no mistake, it WILL be legal one day. Then, we will all sit back and laugh at this stupid prohibition we are currently going through.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:26 pm
I can guarantee you that Talib burns, and there’s a few other Buc players that give me the impression of a smoker. But who the heck cares, as long as they’re not getting baked on gameday.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:28 pm
ahmad black = practice squad…morris likes him too much to cut him
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:33 pm
My concern re: Ahmad Black on the practice squad is that some other team is going to pull a Dominik and will sign him to their active roster. I know we haven’t seen much from the guy, but I like the Bucs track record with drafting talented players in the secondary.
I also think Tanard will be back with the team, hopefully a more focused and responsible player, but we’ll have to see…
j.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Joe here,
@Bucbeliever — In order to get a guy on the practice squad you have to cut him first, then he’s open to anyone.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Joe – (If there is wrongdoing) Can we assume that Talib will not be disciplined until after his case is resolved? I would think Goodell would have taken action by now for any suspension starting Week 1.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Theodore:
To be honest, no clue what Goodell’s timetable is.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:56 pm
My sentiments exactly! If you’re going to smoke it, do it at the end of the day. Preferably with a willing female participant. Cheapest Viagra I’ve ever had! (You didn’t think I’d make a serious comment on this, did you?) lol.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:58 pm
I want Jackson back. I also think pot ought to be legal. It is just stupid that we’re suspending guys for this. It is even worse that we’re arresting people for it.
August 22nd, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Hey Joe maybe it was a little goat weed.
August 22nd, 2011 at 1:14 pm
TopDoggie:
Good one!
August 22nd, 2011 at 1:18 pm
@Dew, seriously? Are black males 18-25 not part of the general population? I understand you made the comment since TJax is a black male, 18-25, but the comment still seems misplaced.
@Macabee – Agreed! Pair a blunt with some booty, stuff turns you into a rockstar.
Anywho, I think he is retarded for getting caught 3 times. I just stopped smoking myself because I have short term ambitions that I need to accomplish that smoking would impede. TJax had millions of reasons to stop and he was foolish enough to keeping hitting the bong. There’s a time and a place for everything, maybe he was already too high to realize that..
August 22nd, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Its not even banned in the NBA.
If you ask me Talib could use some weed. Might be Less likely to put a cap in somebodies ass.
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Here is the ultimate problem with pot testing. It takes weeks to get pot out of your system. For most really bad drugs like heroin, etc it only takes a day or two.
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:28 pm
There’s the solution, switch to heroin!
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:29 pm
If it was me (and I remember Tanard being a hell of a player) I would put him on the bench. Basically buried on my depth chart as the last guy off the bench. He would have to prove to me he was willing to work his way up from there, play special teams and piss clean until either injury pushed him into the line-up or after 1 year of him staying clean and working hard, only then would he be able to crack my starting line-up.
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:30 pm
and you may get from my screen name that i have been known to smoke myself..but it’s never caused me to miss one day of work. nor do i show up at work all pie-eyed.
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:42 pm
@ Ian P
Trust me, 10% might be the understatement of the year. I would like to know what general population was tested. I wasn’t involved in that study, nor were the 50% of the people that I know that do, and that number goes way up if you take the “last month” part out of the study. I don’t partake with the hippie cabbage any more, and probably won’t until maybe the day i’m retired and in my rocker, but a very high percentage of the people I know or have met either do currently, have tryed it, or have in the past. And your whole “black” males statement is wrong. Its white people as much as black people, and many woman partake as well. What world are you living in? It’s everywhere, no matter what “race” your talking about. I might give the you the “sex” part of the argument, but you’d be surprised!
August 22nd, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Well thought out Grasshopp!
August 22nd, 2011 at 3:27 pm
@ Grasshopp
Thank you for being responsible, showing you can work hard and play hard and not ruin it for everyone like many people seem to do! I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
August 22nd, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Grasshopp, you were hopping along there pretty until you made that little confessional. The reason that you never missed a day at work is because they never tested you the day after when you came to work. Take it easy on a fellow toker, by your own admission. Then too, can we really believe you since one of the side effects of marijuana is short-term memory loss.
August 22nd, 2011 at 4:05 pm
@Macabee
First, you missed the point of his statement…although I would not speak for Grasshopp. What would short-term memory loss have to do with him knowing he hasn’t missed a day of work and doesn’t show up all pie-eyed? Thats silly! He’s not going all “Young Guns” and tripping peyote. Clearly you have not smoked before or it affects you waaayyy differently than anyone I know. As well, short-term memory loss would be contributed to the amount and how often you smoke as well. A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away, and a drinking a small amount of a premium beer a day can be good for you, i.e.; high in protein, minerals and vitamins, among other things. Now if you drink alcohol in excessive doses it can affect the memory, as well as marijuana. NMDA receptors become unresponsive, slowing areas of the brain they are responsible for. Contributing to this effect is the activity which alcohol induces in the GABA system. The GABA system is known to inhibit the activity in the brain. The GABA system is also responsible for the memory impairment that most people experience. When you blackout, you are suffering memory loss. So can we not believe what some if not many people who comment on this site say. Thats obsurd and it all matters to the amount that you partake in as well. We don’t know the amount that most of these people smoke or drink to come to that conclusion. That was a very silly post sir.
August 22nd, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Joe-
Guys who have never been popped for a positive test are only tested for “recreational” drugs once a yr before training camp. PED’s are tested for throughout the season, but recreational’s are only once a year and they all know the exact day. To get caught when you know the day is pretty pathetic, which is why I always thought it might be something more than weed in T-Jax’s case.
As far as Holder’s “trust me on that” comment……I don’t need to trust him on it…..and you can trust me on that
August 22nd, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Big important Stephen F. Holder with inside information.
Other guys in the NFl have smoked weed and gotten away with it.
Spectacular insight, as usual.
August 22nd, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Tanard=defense him and grim would stop runners. And tanard is my boy and he’s in great shape. Even quicker if you asked me. But its ashame to watch yall bash my boy.
August 22nd, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Tanard=defense him and grim would stop runners. And tanard is my boy and he’s in great shape. Even quicker if you asked me. But its ashame to watch yall bash my boy.
August 22nd, 2011 at 5:08 pm
bucsalltheway:
There is no “bashing” involved with Tanard Jackson. He made his own bed. Nothing Joe has written about Jackson is remotely inaccurate. Clearly smoking was more important to him than football. He clearly demonstrated that with his own actions.
And it’s a damn shame.
August 22nd, 2011 at 5:31 pm
FourFingered, I stand by the fact that if you did weed the day before and went to work within several days, you still have a job because you were not tested due to the length of time it stays in your system. It is universally and clinically accepted that marijuana affects short-term memory.You are a digitally-challenged fisherman, not a clinical psychologist. I generally enjoy your post, but you should stick to subjects that are within your range of expertise.
August 22nd, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I have no doubt that PLENTY of NFL players smoke at least a little pot and get away with. Look man- If your average dumbass convict can smoke pot and find ways to beat drug tests from their probation officers then I think millionaire pro athletes can too. Hopefully during his long layoff T-jax found some #@%# that works to help him pass his drug tests. Seriously how many guys have actually been kicked out of the NFL for pot? Ricky Williams and T-jax? Maybe a few other guys? Im not at all disappointed that T-Jax smokes pot. Im just disappointed he hasn’t been smart enough to get away with it but like I said he’s had nothing but time now to smarten up and learn to beat the system.
August 22nd, 2011 at 6:04 pm
I mean look, we all know Talib smokes pot. He got caught in college and you aren’t going to tell me he’s had the impulse control since he got to the NFL to quit. He’s just figured a way to beat the system. Maybe its just that T-jax smokes way too much and some of these other guys that don’t get caught don’t smoke as much? Who knows. All I know is it would be nice to have T-Jax back, at least for depth at first. Sean Jones is an acceptable stopgap but SS needs to be upgraded at some point.
August 22nd, 2011 at 8:47 pm
@ Macabee
I guess you just miss the point of most statements. I never discredited the fact that marijuana depending on your metabolism, weight, how active you are, how much you smoked and for how long usually takes two weeks to a month for frequent users to get out of their system. And I never said it can’t cause short-term memory loss, because like you said it can. Those are facts. You need to re-read my post, or maybe you have an extremely bad case of short-term memory loss yourself. If you just took a hit or so once a week, it would take years and years to affect your memory, whereas if you did everyday, it would affect it much sooner. I said you do not know how much or how often grasshopp smokes to determine the severity in which it has affected his memory. Even still, he’s not going to forget the fact that he hasn’t missed a day of work or not came in pie-eyed. He doesn’t have amnesia nor is he tripping so hard that its still not reality. He might forget a conversation he had with someone off the top of his head or something along those lines, but your comment is just silly. And then I said that excessive drinking throughout your life can cause memory damage as well and thats science. Look it up! So your comment ensues that anyone on this site who comments and drinks a lot or smokes can’t be believed. It just doesn’t affect you like that or that severe (to not be believed) in either case. Some of the most brilliant minds in the world have smoked or drank, so should we not believe anything they have said? Grasshopp would have to smoke literally all day, every day for a very very long time, for that comment about him not being believed to even begin to ring true. Again, how would you know this? Did you even read what I wrote?!?!? Just another silly post sir! I normally enjoy your post as well in having said all that, this one…or two…are just beyond me though.
My name is not Four Fingered Digitman you nincompoop! The thumb is known as a “digit” containing one less phalange and is also referred to as “the other finger”. Its a great debate and my name does exactly what it is intended to do…make you think!
August 22nd, 2011 at 8:55 pm
We need Tanard Jackson back! If we have to throw ANOTHER rookie into the starting lineup, then this could be a long season.
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:21 pm
@ macabee
So you don’t miss the point this time…your comment about Grasshopp not being able to be believed cause he has smoked, ensues that anyone on here that has ever blacked out from drinking can’t be believed because they have suffered memory loss as well.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Four Fingered, Before you post again, let me concede. You win and Grasshop should be proud of you as you have nobly defended him. I admire your tenacity and your willingness to engage the debate.I should also apologize for calling you digitally-challenged, the name obviously has some special significance to you. So there, we can both get off the road to perdition and allow the other posters to talk about football.
August 22nd, 2011 at 11:49 pm
@ macabee
I think most people were done with this post anyways. Digitally challenged did not or would not hurt my feelings unless I was missing a finger or digit. No need to appologize. I’m glad you conceded, as what you said about Grasshopp having no credibility because he smokes had no merit or truth, although if it was, it would have been really funny actually. I stated why I thought so as that is what this site is for…discussions. This is all in good spirits though and know my intentions are just that…good spirited. Although it is silly that we got off track a little bit, I think you might just have a problem with marijuana, which is fine.