Bleacher Report did an interesting piece today regarding NFL players and the use of marijuana.
Former Atlanta Falcons running back Jamal Anderson, who retired in 2001, talked about the use of weed in the league. Anderson claims about half of the players did back in his time, and over that amount do it today now.
"When I played, 40 to 50 percent of the league used it," Anderson said recently.
"It's at least 60 percent now," Anderson said. "That's bare minimum. That's because players today don't believe in the stigma that older people associate with smoking it. To the younger guys in the league now, smoking weed is a normal thing, like having a beer. Plus, they know that smoking it helps them with the concussions."
Anderson said he did it when he played. Current players use it to deal with head trauma. Some do it because they like it, dealing with football, helps with concussions and more.
While it's not a shock that NFL players smoke weed, I never realized the number to be that high. However, some other players had different percentages.
None of the 16 players wanted to be identified, and by no means was this survey even close to scientific. But the results aren't hard to believe. Ten said at least 50 percent use regularly (regularly was defined as two to three times a week). Two said 10 percent, two said 70 percent and one refused to quantify but said "a s--tload." One player who said he does not use marijuana put the number of users at 10 to 15 percent. The other 15 players said they did smoke.
With approximately 1,700 players in the sport, even by the most conservative estimate of 10 percent, that is still 170 players who use pot. If the number is 50 percent or, as Anderson said, even 60 or higher, the number climbs above 850 players.
It's a pretty interesting piece. You can read the rest about it here.
