Top NFL Prospects Admit to Marijuana Use

It was announced by Pro Football Weekly on Thursday that three top National Football League prospects admitted to past marijuana usage. Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who is predicted in many mock drafts to be taken first overall by the Oakland Raiders, was the highest profile college athlete of the three who admitted prior use. Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye and Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams also claimed to have smoked pot as teenagers; all three are expected to be drafted in the top ten.

Reporters evidently asked the high-profile college athletes at the NFL scouting combine in February. The three answered honestly, which is becoming increasingly rare in today's society. Although they cannot get in any legal trouble for admitting prior drug usage, Johnson, Okoye, and Adams could drop in the upcoming NFL draft. By sliding down only a couple of selections, each player stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention possible advertisement deals with Gatorade, Nike, etc. By telling the truth, these three young men could lose millions in future revenue. The NFL does test for marijuana, and none of the three currently use the substance which generally finds its way out of the body in less than a month or so. But because they decided not to lie about their past, these players are jeopardizing not only financial gain, but legitimacy in the media.

Many critics began to suggest Thursday afternoon that the players' draft status would be affected as NFL general managers are struggling to clean up the public image of their teams. Since recent incidents with wide receiver Travis Henry and corner back Adam "Pacman" Jones, new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has set new standards of conduct that players must conform to or risk suspension from the NFL. Jones was just issued an 8 game suspension from the commissioner, which could extend to the length of the season if Jones is convicted in an upcoming court hearing.

Some people associated with the league aren't very concerned about the players admitting to marijuana use. "What everybody is looking out for is you don't want the next Ricky Williams," said an NFL assistant. "That's all. If a kid just used pot once or twice, that's not a big deal." There is a general nonchalance and acceptance when it comes to smoking pot, an illegal drug that has never been directly attributed to an overdose related death. However, marijuana is still illegal, and it takes some gusto for these future millionaires to admit to the nation that they've broken the law.

An undisclosed NFL general manager spoke of the issue with reporters. "If they have a problem, we're going to find out," he said. "If they have a problem and they lie about it, now we have two problems. You want to have players who are honest about what happens so you can help them. These guys were honest and they don't have a problem that we can see. Now we're going to punish them? That would be pretty stupid."

Source: Yahoo! Sports