“Do You Smoke Weed?”
February 26th, 2016
Arizona State receiver/running back D.J. Foster talks pot and Bucs.
Not only digging up all things Bucs while live at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Joe is talking to NFL general managers, scouts and coaches about this year’s crop of draft hopefuls.
And Joe is talking to those players, too.
Player-team interviews at the Combine can be legendary. Prospects get grilled in a never ending quest to determine if they are potential trouble or weak in their commitment to football.
This week, Joe had private time with Arizona State running back/wide receiver D.J. Foster, who is entering the draft. The young man told Joe that one popular question he’s gotten to open team interviews is, “Do you smoke weed?” Foster said he got similar feedback from other players — lots of questions about pot.
Joe talked to two NFL executives about this: one told Joe that the “Do you smoke weed?” phrasing was ridiculous. His team, the exec said, would gently and casually ask, “When was the last you smoked pot?” in an effort to extract more information.
The executive estimated about 80 percent of college football players at the Combine smoke pot but very few will admit to ever having dabbled.
Joe asked an AFC general manager about the fascination with marijuana and the focus in pre-draft meetings. The GM said it’s simply a function of weed being against league rules. “It’s not personal. As long as a player can be suspended for it, then we’re going to care about it,” he said. “I try to get the player talking about how many of his friends smoke pot and how often he’s around partying and see where that leads. But these kids are well coached on what to say.”
Speaking of well coached, Foster, one of the more interesting players in the draft (Joe will have more on him this weekend), said he met with the Bucs but wouldn’t comment on the questions they asked him.
Joe asked Foster if he met with Dirk Koetter, Bucs head coach and former Arizona State coach. Foster said, no, but also gave Joe a well-coached rant on how familiar he is with Koetter’s great history, his work with the Buccaneers and the Sun Devils, and how he couldn’t wait to meet Koetter and it would be great to catch passes from Jameis Winston and learn from the Bucs veterans.
Joe had to smile at the young man’s effort. Welcome to the Combine.
February 26th, 2016 at 9:12 am
Ask the league’s veterans, do you abuse pain pills?
It was well put though. As long as you can be suspended for it…
February 26th, 2016 at 9:29 am
Speaking for Pablo
“Pablo smokes weed”
February 26th, 2016 at 9:41 am
Yet there are still tens of millions of American’s who still buy into the propaganda that cannabis is a gateway drug and that it has no medicinal benefit. smh
February 26th, 2016 at 9:44 am
@Espo
Ask the league’s veterans, do you abuse pain pills?
Espo this is a critical question and points to the absurdity of the league’s weed policies.
Real Sports on HBO did an expose on weed use in the NFL. It’s estimated that 50% of the players in the league use weed. And many if not most are not simply using it to have fun.
Quite a few of the former players interviewed pointed out that younger players prefer weed for exactly the question you’ve posed. They see veterans strung out on the opiods and other drugs the teams prescribe for their pain meds. They see these vets totally hooked and strung out on really addictive meds.
And for some these pills don’t even do the trick as well as weed. I understand them. I recently went through some painful gum surgery and the doc prescribed oxycodone. These pills are supposed to be the gold standard for the druggies who prefer pills. They did very little for me. I still have half a bottle left.
OTOH…this past summer up in Michigan when I got the shingles it was weed that made the entire ordeal manageable.
Nobody has ever OD’d on weed…unlike the pills or alcohol poisoning. Driving and texting is the most dangerous driving when measured statistically followed by driving drunk and much farther down the scale driving while smoking weed.
I’m not advocating driving under the influence of anything…just trying to bring some perspective into the conversation. And so does the NFL ever ask potential players when was the last time they texted and drove?
Weed laws are what they are for a combination of reasons none of which are worthwhile. There will always be the religious fanatics who want to tell us how to live our lives..whether it’s “Blue Laws” or other prohibitions against alcohol or weed.
Sadly another major reason for weed laws is the alcohol producers simply do not want the competition! Nor do the pain pill manufacturers.
It’s soooo far past the time that this country develops a rational weed policy.
It should mirror alcohol. Regulated but not prohibited.
The NFL is only worried because of the PR revolving around weed. None of the NFL execs claimed that weed is harming the game in terms of athletic performance on the field.
And the most striking news about weed is from Israel where the researcher who first identified THC as the main ingredient producing the high continues his research.
In rats where they induced brain damage…think concussions…the rats healed much more quickly when they were fed THC. Rats are not people and the research needs to continue. But imagine if weed actually turned out to be a substance that could help with the NFL’s major health problem…concussions.
We need no more research however to realize the pain meds the league prescribes are far more dangerous and totally more addictive than weed. It’s time for our society and the NFL to pull our heads out of the sand.
February 26th, 2016 at 10:25 am
I think I see 2 articles here.
February 26th, 2016 at 10:44 am
SPBF: Excellent comment. I can’t recall his name, but remember the great Bucs DB who was forced out of the league cos he used weed and got caught? It’s a sad irony as this state is poised to approve medical pot in November. BTW Joe, the TTBay times is reporting that Martin and his agent are talking to the Bucs, and it looks positive,
February 26th, 2016 at 10:56 am
Miguel smokes weed!!
February 26th, 2016 at 11:03 am
LifeOfBucFan smokes crack!
J/k…heck I don’t even touch alcohol..BUT I have always allowed my sons to smoke weed at home..
February 26th, 2016 at 11:08 am
Speaking for Pablo
“Pablo smokes weed…..Oh….excuse Pablo…..Pablo has already said that earlier….Pablo was confused because Pablo is high”
February 26th, 2016 at 11:19 am
Hey, hey, hey, smoke weed (with Pablo) every day.
February 26th, 2016 at 11:32 am
Big Pharmas response is that cannabis is a drug and don’t you pot smoking idiots know that we control all drugs and the FDA. Like the unexplained dozen or more deaths of alternate healing doctors who were investigating McGAF, a naturally occurring substance of the human body that has been shown to be a cure for cancer, an attack to defend ongoing obscene established chemotherapy treatments that waste and kill the body. The war on drugs is a war on American’s.
February 26th, 2016 at 12:33 pm
There are so many legit, medicinal uses for the various compounds in pot, whether it’s THC, CBD, or one of the many terpenes found in buds. Researchers and scientists are basically handcuffed from doing more research in this country because of its schedule 1 classification. Even in states like Cali and Colorado, it’s very hard to conduct medical research. It needs to be nationally legalized, and rescheduled to level 2 or 3.
You know that cocaine and opiates- which are two of the most highly addictive substances known, are only schedule 2, but pot is schedule 1? Just another example of how money corrupts power and influences unfair laws against citizens of this country.
February 26th, 2016 at 2:52 pm
Oh the Hypocrisy!
NFL execs who as likely as not downed at least a couple alcoholic beverages the previous evening without a second’s thought – trying to find out if College players ever use cannabis – and having negative judgement if it turns out the answer is yes.
The reefer madness style propaganda that has vilified this incredibly useful plant – and it’s “illegal” status for the last 80 years needs to end – NOW!
SPBF mentioned that Big Pharma and alcohol producers are against the competition and do what they can to perpetuate its unavailability – which is very true – but the continued “illegality” of cannabis goes much deeper than that.
Hemp the non (or very low) THC containing version of “marijuana” is one of the most versatile and useful plants on the planet. Both hemp and cannabis have been revered throughout history as incredibly useful and beneficial to mankind.
Until its vilification in the late 1930s, practically all forms of rope made on this earth were made of hemp fibers. It’s extreme strength and flexibility made the woven fibers of this plant perfect for that purpose.
Clothes made of hemp are 5 times more durable and last much longer than cotton clothes but are just as comfortable to the touch when properly processed. So of course the cotton and textiles industries do not want to compete with this plant.
Hemp paper is of higher quality than paper made from wood pulp – the much shorter length of time needed to grow the materials and overall process for creating it is also much more environmentally friendly than wood paper. So of course the timber industry is happy to pile on with other industries and “work behind the scenes” with lawmakers for the plant’s continued illegality.
Many Americans are still not aware to this day that the first drafts of the US Constitution were written on hemp paper and that a # of the plant’s many benefits were universally known at the time when these United States were founded – so much so that a # of states REQUIRED farmers to devote a certain % of acreage to its cultivation. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and many of our country’s founders all grew, used and consumed hemp/cannabis.
The oil extracted by cold pressing cannabis seeds is also very versatile and has many benefits to humans.
It is good for the external body and skin when applied topically or used in soaps, shampoos or moisturizing oils.
Its also very good for us when taken internally. The oil contained in the hemp seed is 75-80% polyunsaturated fatty acids (the good fats) and only 9-11% of the less desired saturated fatty acids. Hemp seed oil is reputed to be the most unsaturated oil derived from the plant kingdom and has been correctly dubbed “Nature’s most perfectly balanced oil”, due to the fact that it contains the perfectly balanced 3:1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 essential fatty acids, determined to be the optimum requirement for long-term healthy human nutrition. Extensive studies have demonstrated that many common illnesses are related to deficiencies or imbalances of specific fatty acids in the body. Symptoms are often related to a lack of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids and their derivatives, the postaglandins.
There is also strong and growing scientific evidence that cannabis products and in particular its oil consumed internally not only helps to prevent cancer – but can actually cure cancer.
And then there’s the competition with petroleum products. Hemp oil can be used as the base for many everyday products including paints, all forms of plastic, turned into bio-diesel fuel etc etc. And in all cases is much better for our environment and our bodies than using crude oil as a base for so many things in our life. But the “oil” industry is one of the most powerful and influential contingents on the planet for the last 100 years – so its no wonder that a natural and easily grown/cultivated product like cannabis would be vilified and stigmatized and illegalized by interests who would otherwise stand to lose control of literally Trillions of dollars of profits. Hell – its a weed. Anybody can grow it practically anywhere in the world that rain falls and the sun shines. The very small # of individuals who control a very large % of the world’s resources can’t have that now can they?
And speaking of “control” – what better way for the powers that be to keep a lid on free thinkers, war protesters and all of similar ilk – than to criminalize their drug of choice? When Nixon realized that many in the growing Vietnam war resistance movement were also pot smokers – “The War on DRUGS” was born resulting in the expenditure of over a Trillion dollars in enforcement costs – and the ruined lives of hundreds of thousands who have been subjected to the criminal justice system because of a plant. And now that the “For Profit” nature of our prison systems is the norm – this means of control and easy incarceration for profit is as or more prevalent today as it was almost 50 years ago when this false and immoral “war” was initiated.
And yet slowly the tide is turning. Americans are FINALLY waking up to the fact that they have been lied to by their Government for the last 80 years. Cannabis has been classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the Federal Government for 45+ years – meaning it has NO medicinal qualities. It’s in the same class as Heroin and worse than cocaine (allegedly) – yet the patent holder for all medicinal qualities of THC – the desired “active ingredient” in cannabis – is none other than the United States Government as of 2003. Hypocrisy and lies are evident to all who know this fact.
Via the constitutional means of voting – citizens of 23 US states (many in the West and NE) + DC (our nation’s capitol and the seat of our Federal Gov’t) have legalized the medicinal use of Cannabis – and 5 states have legalized the unrestricted use of this plant.
Florida will thankfully become one of those states this November (at least for medicinal purposes) and many Southeastern and Midwest states will shortly follow suit once that happens.
EVERY Floridian needs to show up at the polls this November – and vote to approve Medicinal Marijuana as a 1st step towards ending this longstanding lie, hypocrisy and controlling mechanism that Big $ in cahoots with The Federal Gov’t holds unconstitutionally over our lives. This is about freedom. CHOICE. The freedom to choose medicine and products that benefit humans via a simple plant that grows anywhere – as opposed to those which are harmful and detrimental to mankind and our environment – that powerful forces dictate we use and consume.
And to bring it home – the NFL (just like our federal lawmakers) needs to stop treating players who choose to use cannabis like they have done something wrong and need to be punished. Especially when that use and those players are in a state that has already usurped the Federal Government’s lies and control by its citizens voting to make cannabis use completely legal.
February 26th, 2016 at 3:17 pm
It’s important to point out that the NFL does not suspend players because the law tells them to, it suspends players because it’s in the best interest of their business. The benefits of weed, real or not, take a backseat to the role public perception plays in this situation. The law has certainly played a role in forming that perception, but that’s not the point.
In many professions getting drunk publicly can cost you your job, and smoking or even smelling of nicotine in the workplace is justification for punishment. This is not a dilemma exclusive to “illegal” drugs. Employment comes with restrictions, for various reasons, and if I’m an NFL team I want to know my investment has a sound understanding of that. It really comes down to respect. Does the player respect the needs of the team as defined by the team, or does he respect the team only in instances where he also agrees on the issue?
February 26th, 2016 at 3:58 pm
Pickgrin… Thank you for presenting the actual facts about cannabis and it’s many common sense uses that would interfere with the money junkies deceit. I commented earlier about McGAF but forget another reason for the doctors untimely deaths, many were also studying nagalase, a poison added to vaccinations which are increasingly being pushed by big pharma and the push will be heightened going forward. Nagalase has already claimed babies lives. These vaccines also contain mercury and aluminum, two substances also toxic to the human body.
February 26th, 2016 at 5:01 pm
@Pickgrin
Wow! Thanks for that very informative post. If I was joking I have to say how cool it might be to be able to smoke your clothes but I take your point.
And the serious part of Pickgrin’s point for those who may have missed….make sure you are registered and get out in November and VOTE!!!
Our country is an embarrassment when it comes to our voting turnouts. Whether its for weed or to make another political statement…VOTE!
February 26th, 2016 at 5:33 pm
Well put, Bill
I also see 2 articles here lol
February 26th, 2016 at 6:21 pm
Pickgrin
#Respect
February 26th, 2016 at 6:27 pm
As a former college player, I can tell all of you the vast majority of college players smoke or have smoked weed at one time. It is an excellent pain reliever…So I was told (smirk). Most of the smart ones can control it. Some..cannot. At the pro level/ Yes they smoke, and take pills and do a lot of unorthodox stuff to relieve pain and for enjoyment. Some even have the inside scoop on when the test will be given. There are ways to flush it out quickly. Not comfortable though. But you do need a few days to do so. The NFl says they care But..Marijuana smoking is not really high on their list until it becomes a problem for the player. Some have even been given byes their 1st couple of times..off the record. I know this..for a fact.
February 26th, 2016 at 6:40 pm
The McGAF substance I referred to is actually GcMAF, my bad.
February 27th, 2016 at 12:01 am
Yes but only on weekends and Monday through Friday.
February 27th, 2016 at 12:25 am
“J/k…heck I don’t even touch alcohol..BUT I have always allowed my sons to smoke weed at home..”
Well that’s just stupid.
February 27th, 2016 at 12:28 am
I could care less if someone smokes weed but if they are going to be paid millions of my money, then as the owner and coaches, I would absolutely want to know if they are mature enough to realize smoking weed is not worth their career. Shelve the Bong until you can’t play anymore.
Not letting down your team and family is more important.
The league changing that rule is another argument