Does past use concern you, a Dallas fan?

[GimmeTheBall!]

I was reading Don Banks column on marijuana and draft prospects.

He says that 10-11 1st-round prospects admit to using or testing positive to marijuana.

As a Cowboys fan, I've heard enough stories about Cowboy players using the narcotic.

If you are looking at a really good athlete in the 1st round, do you pass him up for someone with lesser talent but who has not done that drug or do you bring him on board and hope that maturity will kick in?

Me, I think it is like using alcohol, except that it is illegal.
And I wonder what Jerra's take is on that issue.

 

[Hostile]

In truth yes it does concern me. Mainly because those who do use the drug can't seem to grasp the reality that because it is illegal they are risking their careers and affecting the team. I think it is safer than alcohol, but illegal is illegal. There is a reason they call it dope. It describes the people who think they need it. They can't grow up.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

I was reading Don Banks column on marijuana and draft prospects.

He says that 10-11 1st-round prospects admit to using or testing positive to marijuana.

As a Cowboys fan, I've heard enough stories about Cowboy players using the narcotic.

If you are looking at a really good athlete in the 1st round, do you pass him up for someone with lesser talent but who has not done that drug or do you bring him on board and hope that maturity will kick in?

Me, I think it is like using alcohol, except that it is illegal.
And I wonder what Jerra's take is on that issue.

Why does Randy Moss cross my mind???

 

[JustDezIt]

no it doesnt, but i would be concerned if it was problematic usage, i.e. failing tests, arrests or team suspensions. problematic in the fact that they had good reason not to and still choose to do so anyways. i would venture to say that a majority had experimented in their younger years, the same as in the regular population.

 

[Doomsday101]

I was reading Don Banks column on marijuana and draft prospects.

He says that 10-11 1st-round prospects admit to using or testing positive to marijuana.

As a Cowboys fan, I've heard enough stories about Cowboy players using the narcotic.

If you are looking at a really good athlete in the 1st round, do you pass him up for someone with lesser talent but who has not done that drug or do you bring him on board and hope that maturity will kick in?

Me, I think it is like using alcohol, except that it is illegal.
And I wonder what Jerra's take is on that issue.

Depends I think you need to take a closer look at the individual player when something like this comes up.

Try to determine if he is a chronic user or just kid who experimented I think you look closer at behavioral issue he may or may not have had.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Why does Randy Moss cross my mind???

Or Stepnoski?

Although I will say he seems to be the rare case / exception to the rule.

Seems you find more like Ricky Williams than Steps.

I think the main thing is to look at it on an individual basis and also WHERE that player is drafted. If he is going to be a top of the first round pick then it would give me great pause. If it was in the lower rounds or even at the tail end of the first round I might not be as worried about it...this is just considering if it appears that guy had one problem with it and no other problems with failing tests and so on...not talking about someone like Ricky Williams.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Yes it does. If they are going to get popped at the combine when they know they are going to be tested they will most likely fail other tests and end up suspended.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

In truth yes it does concern me. Mainly because those who do use the drug can't seem to grasp the reality that because it is illegal they are risking their careers and affecting the team. I think it is safer than alcohol, but illegal is illegal. There is a reason they call it dope. It describes the people who think they need it. They can't grow up.

It concerns me because of the perceived damage it does to lungs. I mean, an athlete NEEDS his lungs (well, us too, but they run a lot more than we do.)
Also because of the lethargy issues. It has every possible down side and can't understand the big attraction to it.

If they like a relaxing time they should wait for retirement (and possibly when it is finally legal).

 

[ethiostar]

It is a concern mainly because it is illegal and the consequences that comes along with that.

 

[bbgun]

Let's not get sucked into a futile discussion about the wisdom of US law vis a vis marijuana. Yes, it does concern me because it betrays a lack of maturity and self-control. You can't build a winner with unreliable people who are one failed test from being useless to you.

 

[jterrell]

As many have stated you have to take a close look.

Can the guy turn out to be a Warren Sapp and keep things mostly clean and at the same time play a really high level? Or is the guy going to weed out and fatten up like QCar? Is the guy a knucklehead like PacMan who just ignores all laws?

I know plenty of people use it and try not to judge but if you are a regular violator of the law that gives me pause if I am to commit major dollars and resources to you.

It is a horrid habit for an athlete. I wouldn't draft a guy who smoked cigarettes regularly so yes mj use would scare me if I felt it would continue.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Prison time even for first offenders would turn them around.
The prison union, I am sure, would endorse my stance.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Of course it's a concern... I would not hire anyone using drugs.

 

[Gaede]

In truth yes it does concern me. Mainly because those who do use the drug can't seem to grasp the reality that because it is illegal they are risking their careers and affecting the team. I think it is safer than alcohol, but illegal is illegal. There is a reason they call it dope. It describes the people who think they need it. They can't grow up.

In the past I'd disagree with this, but lately I'm starting to lean more in this direction. I'm alright with recreational use, yeah, sure once or twice here and there...but anyone who thinks they need it on a daily/weekly basis is not to be relied upon.

 

[Yeagermeister]

In the past I'd disagree with this, but lately I'm starting to lean more in this direction. I'm alright with recreational use, yeah, sure once or twice here and there...but anyone who thinks they need it on a daily/weekly basis is not to be relied upon.

Only problem I have with that is depending on when they take the test the rec user can come up positive just like the every day user.

 

[masomenos]

An admission of past use doesn't bother me, nor does one failed random drug test. Multiple failed drug tests, or failing at the combine definitely would bother me though.

 

[Screw The Hall]

Two different scenarios here. Are we talking about a player who has admitted to use in the past but no longer uses? This scenario doesn't really concern me. I chalk that up to life experience.

But if they admit to using it now, a continued urge to use it again in the future, or especially because they've been busted on a test at the combine this would be a big concern for me signaling a need to grow up and realize what is at stake for them.

 

[Doomsay]

I was reading Don Banks column on marijuana and draft prospects.

He says that 10-11 1st-round prospects admit to using or testing positive to marijuana.

As a Cowboys fan, I've heard enough stories about Cowboy players using the narcotic.

If you are looking at a really good athlete in the 1st round, do you pass him up for someone with lesser talent but who has not done that drug or do you bring him on board and hope that maturity will kick in?

Me, I think it is like using alcohol, except that it is illegal.
And I wonder what Jerra's take is on that issue.

Marijuana isn't a narcotic. IMO, not a big deal if players smoked in high school or a little in college. A big problem though if they haven't stopped completely by the end of their college careers, because of the latency of THC in one's system. In some cases, it can be detected weeks after use, depending on the testing threshold/sensitivity. So even an occasional user in the off-season can get nailed by a fairly infrequent random test. Ricky Williams is a poster child for the inability to give it up.

 

[Doomsday101]

Marijuana isn't a narcotic. IMO, not a big deal if players smoked in high school or a little in college. A big problem though if they haven't stopped completely by the end of their college careers, because of the latency of THC in one's system. In some cases, it can be detected weeks after use, depending on the testing threshold/sensitivity. So even an occasional user in the off-season can get nailed by a fairly infrequent random test. Ricky Williams is a poster child for the inability to give it up.

That is the problem, those who say weed is not big deal then stopping should not be a big deal. I really think if someone offers you a 30 million dollar contract and part of the deal is you need to stay clean and you can't manage to stay clean then you got a real problem.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

i think we can all agree that doing da chronic is bad for athletes, physically and legally.

Something to think about as we stumble to the beer booth at the stadium next fall.

As far as it not being a narcotic, I half a friend in the medical profession who says that in its natural state it is not but when synthesized by the farmaceutical industry it is legally classified as thus. Well, she is not really in the medical profession but she once watched a Matlock show on the subject. Or was it that Barnaby Miller character played by that Beverley Hillbillies guy?

Well, just stay away from that stuff and i hope our players just learnt to say "no."