Doomsday101
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Evidently, for NFL players, it is harder than I realized to smoke marijuana and not get caught.
Either that, or it is utterly amazing how careless and unprofessional some of these guys can be.
At least that's my current working theory after several players, including most notably Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson and Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain, were suspended recently under the NFL's substance abuse policy.
Without getting bogged down into too much minutiae, here are the rules: Players get tested once a year for "street drugs" (including marijuana) and that test is in May or June, during the team's Organized Team Activities. A positive test would place the player in the league's program, which entails more frequent testing and some meetings. If the player fulfills his requirements in the program, he needs to test positive two more times to get suspended. If the NFL's medical director believes the player hasn't adequately participated in the program, a second positive test could trigger a four-game suspension like the ones that Richardson and McClain got.
There are a couple key points that need to be reiterated:
1) NFL players only get tested once a year for substances and they KNOW when it will take place.
2) Even if a player tests positive once, as long as he does what the league asks, there won't be any serious repercussions unless he tests positive TWO MORE TIMES.
Let's start with the first point, which is really the most important one. Everybody knows when the test is coming. Every year. To use some Wellsian (Ted, that is) terms, I was "generally aware" during my time as a player of several teammates who "more probable than not" smoked marijuana on a fairly regular basis.
How do I know? They talked about it, hinted at it and even smelled like it from time to time. Yet none of those guys that I remember, with the notable exception of one after we were no longer teammates, ever had any issue with the NFL's substance abuse policy, which is an intelligence test as much as anything. But don't just take my word for it.
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/135008328/sheldon-richardson-rolando-mcclain-suspended
Either that, or it is utterly amazing how careless and unprofessional some of these guys can be.
At least that's my current working theory after several players, including most notably Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson and Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain, were suspended recently under the NFL's substance abuse policy.
Without getting bogged down into too much minutiae, here are the rules: Players get tested once a year for "street drugs" (including marijuana) and that test is in May or June, during the team's Organized Team Activities. A positive test would place the player in the league's program, which entails more frequent testing and some meetings. If the player fulfills his requirements in the program, he needs to test positive two more times to get suspended. If the NFL's medical director believes the player hasn't adequately participated in the program, a second positive test could trigger a four-game suspension like the ones that Richardson and McClain got.
There are a couple key points that need to be reiterated:
1) NFL players only get tested once a year for substances and they KNOW when it will take place.
2) Even if a player tests positive once, as long as he does what the league asks, there won't be any serious repercussions unless he tests positive TWO MORE TIMES.
Let's start with the first point, which is really the most important one. Everybody knows when the test is coming. Every year. To use some Wellsian (Ted, that is) terms, I was "generally aware" during my time as a player of several teammates who "more probable than not" smoked marijuana on a fairly regular basis.
How do I know? They talked about it, hinted at it and even smelled like it from time to time. Yet none of those guys that I remember, with the notable exception of one after we were no longer teammates, ever had any issue with the NFL's substance abuse policy, which is an intelligence test as much as anything. But don't just take my word for it.
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/135008328/sheldon-richardson-rolando-mcclain-suspended
