Oakland Raiders wide receiver (it feels good to type that, knowing he won’t be torching the Packers’ awful secondary this season!) Randy Moss has got himself in trouble again. No, he didn’t hit a traffic control offiver with his car, squirt a water bottle at an NFL official, leave the game with 0:02 left on the clock, or pantomime moon the fans at Lambeau Field while beating them in the playoffs (the football gods will exact vengeance for this — my bet is Moss gets hurt and knocked out for the season).
No, this time he just told the truth and admitted to being a responsible marijuana user:
(AP) NEW YORK – Oakland Raiders receiver Randy Moss admits he has used marijuana since entering the NFL seven years ago and still smokes it “every blue moon.”
“I have used, you know, marijuana … since I’ve been in the league,” Moss said in an interview for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” scheduled to air Tuesday night. “But as far as abusing it and, you know, letting it take control over me, I don’t do that, no.”
When pressed whether he still smokes marijuana, the star receiver with the checkered past said: “I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully … I won’t get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason.
“But, you know, I don’t want any kids, you know, watching this taking a lesson from me as far as ‘Well, Randy Moss used it so I’m going to use it.’ I don’t want that to get across. Like I say … I have used (marijuana) in the past. And every blue moon or every once in a while I might.”
I’ve been following these pro athletes and their marijuana use for a while here at the Writ:
Former Duck / Current Viking / Unrepentant Pothead (Vikings RB Onterrio Smith)
Ricky Williams says he failed 3rd drug test (Dolphins RB Ricky Williams)
Damon Stoudamire and Drug Demonizing (Trail Blazers PG Damon Stoudamire)
(I’ve got plenty more to say on this, which you can read after you click here for full post.)
Now Randy and his agent are trying to back away from the comments. Randy has said…
“A lot of people are jumping to conclusions because they really don’t know the real story or haven’t even heard the real story yet,” he said. “That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood — especially in high school and college.”
…which begs the question: do the English professors at Marshall University teach their student athletes that “And every blue moon or every once in a while I might.” is a statement in the present tense?
But the real laugher comes from Moss’s agent, Dante DiTrapano:
“In an attempt to promote their dying network, they have maliciously couched his remarks in a manner that is confusing and leaves room for negative interpretation,” DiTrapano told The Associated Press. “Randy is not in the NFL substance abuse program and has complied with all urinalysis required by the league, the team, insurance companies, endorsers, etc.”
Dying network? Do The Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, or Curb Your Enthusiasm ring any bells? How about more Emmy nominations than any other network? Showtime would kill for its network to be as “dying” as HBO’s.
Plus, passing a pee test isn’t exactly rocket science; it only proves that you are smart and disciplined enough to pass a pee test. And if he passes the pee tests, there’s no reason he’d be in the substance abuse program.
Even the sports writers are climbing on Moss more for his running at the mouth than his choice of mood relaxer:
(NBCSports.com) The admission isn’t a big one. If everyone in sports — or in any profession — answered that question honestly, you’d have tens of millions of responses similar to Moss’. Yes, marijuana is illegal. But let’s be honest, it’s not Satan’s drug of choice.
But there is a segment of society that is easily outraged by anything people do that looks as if it might be fun. Which is why it’s also a good idea never to answer questions from the media or anyone else about your sex life.
It’s common knowledge that Moss used to smoke weed. It’s why he couldn’t get into Notre Dame or any other big-time football schools and had to play college ball at Marshall.
The International Olympic Committee does not test for marijuana because the IOC has determined that it’s not a performance-enhancing drug. From my memories of the 1970s, when I actually did inhale — but that’s in the past, and I don’t want to discuss it further — that would be an accurate judgment, unless the sport were eating Doritos or ice cream, in which case it could help someone to a world record.
The NBA doesn’t test for marijuana, either, which is a good thing, because the occasional joint is one of the preferred methods of unwinding for players of that game. If the NBA tested for weed, there might be more guys serving suspensions than actually playing the game. Robert Parrish, who won a few championships with the Celtics, is one of the big names who got caught with it.
…and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has admitted to smoking herb, and Charles Oakley once opined that approximately 60% of the NBA players are regular stoners.
Former Dallas Cowboy guard Mark Stepnoski is even a member of the advisory board to NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and the president of Texas NORML. Here’s what he had to say on Faux News’ The O’Lielly Blather:
O’REILLY: Were you using pot while you were playing?
STEPNOSKI: Yes, I had. You know, as an adult, I fully believe in NORML’s, you know, belief in responsible use by adults.
O’REILLY: OK. SO when you were playing for the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers, you were — now, were you using it on a daily basis?
STEPNOSKI: No. No. It was just, you know, occasional responsible use.
O’REILLY: OK. Did they drug test you back then?
STEPNOSKI: Yes, drug testing’s been a policy of the NFL for several years now.
O’REILLY: How’d you beat it?
STEPNOSKI: Just by not taking the drug prior to the test.
So it would seem clear to me that world class athletes who hone their physical skills to perfection, who depend on their reaction times and physical abilities to excel and avoid injury, whose six-and-seven-figure incomes depend on their health — these people would not be doing anything to jeopardize their livelihood. Sure, you may get a couple who do something clearly deleterious as snorting coke or abusing steroids, but to have such a large number of NBA and NFL athletes using marijuana, it seems that they’ve figured out it’s one of the least harmful ways they can relax, dull pain, and recover from injury.
Moreover, it seems to me that the biggest harm from marijuana — and the reason that Randy Moss is in trouble for talking about it — is because it is illegal.
Let’s put this ridiculous war on a plant behind us. Legalize it. Regulate it. Tax it.
