Okoye, Adams, and Calvin Johnson admit to using Marijuana

In a recent story on kffl, 3 of the top 10 prospects in the NFL draft were reported as having admitted to using marijuana during their combine interviews.

Do college kids use marijuana? Im sure many do.
Will this hurt their stocks? Who knows

With the league coming down hard on substance abuse and behavior, I expect this to really mess with mock drafts now. Who knows how the actual teams will deal with the info. Here are the stories:

NFL | Okoye admits to marijuana use
Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:04:07 -0700

Nolan Nawrocki, of ProFootballWeekly.com, reports Louisville DT Amobi Okoye admitted during his NFL Combine interview that he has used marijuana, according to multiple sources who have watched the interview. Some teams who are aware of his admission have said they do not think it will affect his draft stock. Others are concerned about his work ethic, maturity level and fluctuations in weight.


NFL | G. Adams admits to marijuana use
Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:03:34 -0700

Nolan Nawrocki, of ProFootballWeekly.com, reports Clemson DE Gaines Adams admitted during his NFL Combine interview that he has used marijuana, according to multiple sources who have watched the interview. " It should scare (teams), especially when you see how laid-back (Adams) is in his play," said one team official. "No one disputes the great physical ability. What is disputed is how passionate he is and how physical he is. Physically, from an athletic standpoint, he has all the tools. He is the No. 1 pass rusher in the draft, and I don't think many people would argue with that."


NFL | C. Johnson admits to marijuana use
Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:02:40 -0700

Nolan Nawrocki, of ProFootballWeekly.com, reports Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson, during interviews at the NFL Combine, admitted to using marijuana, according to sources who have watched the interviews.

This means that they are truthful.

I talked to a former player when I was at the Super Bowl. When I talked about how I am not much of a big drinker, that I like quality over quanity, he said he was the same way....

but then admitted that he really likes smoking weed, and then went into a long discourse about how tons of the players in the NFL smoke dope and that because of the way the drug testing is conducted, it is easy to get away with it if you are smart.

FWIW.

Texans_Chick said:

This means that they are truthful.

I talked to a former player when I was at the Super Bowl. When I talked about how I am not much of a big drinker, that I like quality over quanity, he said he was the same way....

but then admitted that he really likes smoking weed, and then went into a long discourse about how tons of the players in the NFL smoke dope and that because of the way the drug testing is conducted, it is easy to get away with it if you are smart.

FWIW.

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I wouldn't doubt it.
It just seems like if owners know they will be giving the top 1-5 players 10s of millions in guaranteed money, they want to take 0% chance that those guys won't be playing for the extent of their contract

I give them props for the honesty, and it also should be noted that they said they have smoked pot in the past NOT that they failed their drug tests at the Combine. Big difference. If you were Kubes sitting in the interveiw room in Indy and asked the question and got a yes wouldn't/shouldn't your next question be can you stop? All three showed the intellegence to refran from smoking leading up to the combine, but still answered the question truthfully. I wouldn't be surprised if the gentlemen conducting the interviews already know what the truthful answer to the question was anyways.

I doubt this causes any of them to slide in the draft.

Texans_Chick said:

but then admitted that he really likes smoking weed, and then went into a long discourse about how tons of the players in the NFL smoke dope and that because of the way the drug testing is conducted, it is easy to get away with it if you are smart.

FWIW.

Click to expand...

I don't think this is any different in the general workplace for your average joe worker guy. Most companies drug test but that hasn't stopped pot smokers in America.

Vinny said:

I don't think this is any different in the general workplace for your average joe worker guy. Most companies drug test but that hasn't stopped pot smokers in America.

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Agreed. When I took a particular job in Chicago, the first thing I had to do was to submit to a drug test (which I of course passed). The organization said they conducted "Random" tests, but the fact was everyone knew that you got a drug test once a year and about a year after you took your last. So it was not a surprise to anyone and it be easy to stop smoking weed a couple of months before, fly through and then start again.

I guess I'm missing something,
but how could smoking weed possibly be so incredibly great that its worth:
a) A football player losing millions of dollars in potential salary
b) A regular guy at his job losing his job if the company actually does start with random tests

gtexan02 said:

I guess I'm missing something,
but how could smoking weed possibly be so incredibly great that its worth:
a) A football player losing millions of dollars in potential salary
b) A regular guy at his job losing his job if the company actually does start with random tests

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I think its more along the lines that these kids admitted to it and were honest. Many Many Many college kids smoke weed and so do many "regular joes". The thing is that most employers(from what I have seen) tend to look the other way with weed. If you test positive, many companies tend to ask you to stop etc, whereas with things like cocaine the penalties can be harsher.

Two of the most dangerous of drugs are legal:alcohol and nicotene. I really think that the government should really consider the potential revenue it can generate by legalizing pot and regualting it. If you look at scientific studies, weed is nowhere near as dangerous as chronic nicotene use or alcohol use.

awtysst said:

I think its more along the lines that these kids admitted to it and were honest. Many Many Many college kids smoke weed and so do many "regular joes". The thing is that most employers(from what I have seen) tend to look the other way with weed. If you test positive, many companies tend to ask you to stop etc, whereas with things like cocaine the penalties can be harsher.

Two of the most dangerous of drugs are legal:alcohol and nicotene. I really think that the government should really consider the potential revenue it can generate by legalizing pot and regualting it. If you look at scientific studies, weed is nowhere near as dangerous as chronic nicotene use or alcohol use.

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THANK YOU, haha

i dont think its a big deal, i bet even kubes did a lil puff puff pass back in his day

The issue here is not whether or not marijuana is better/worse than any other drugs. I happen to have spent some time in some drug research labs, so I know very well how it works and what the consequences are.

The issue here is that marijuana is an illegal substance.
It is a schedule 1 drug.
And as such, the NFL will and does test players for it regularly.

If a player is found guilty of substance abuse, that player can be banned from games, practices, and even entire seasons.


If the NFL outlawed coca cola it would be the same argument. It doesn't matter what it does or how it does it. All that matters is:
Do these players do it?
Can they stop (or are they psychologically addicted)?

And if you know the answer to the first question, and aren't 100% sure of the second question, is it a risk (as an owner) you'd be willing to take?

And thats why I wouldn't be surprised to see their stock take a slight hit.

gtexan02 said:

The issue here is that marijuana is an illegal substance.
It is a schedule 1 drug.
And as such, the NFL will and does test players for it regularly.

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That's true but these guys were also tested at the combine for drugs, including pot, and they all passed. So I think it's safe to say that the worry of them jepordizing their careers is lower then it would have been if they had tested positive at Indy. If any of these guys are habitual pot smokers, I but the teams would already know, and act accordingly (alal a draft day slide for somebody).

espn article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft07/news/story?id=2842833

"[NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell] is going to be all over any team that drafts players with borderline character," an unidentified team official said, according to Pro Football Weekly. "You are not going to see a draft like, for instance, Cincinnati's [in 2006], where they took four criminals in one draft, because the owners are going to start getting fined.

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I'd be interested if Goodell takes any action , espically since two of teh guys are considered to be two of the best character guys in the draft, Okoye and Johnson.

Adam Schefter's take:
http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/10135791

Okoye confirmed the admission through his agent, Ian Greengross.

Through Greengross, Okoye said he was a 16-year-old underclassman at the time he tried marijuana and he would not lie to his future employers about it.

Okoye said he has not smoked since then and the incident is a non issue. He never tested positive to any of the NCAA's random drug tests.

A handful of teams that Greengross contacted this week even said Okoye should be applauded for his honesty, not for trying to hide an incident that is as much a part of his past as his freshman year.

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Safe to say Okoye's draft status won't be damaged by this.

Great finds, thanks!

Len Pasquarelli's take:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft07/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2843005&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1

One of the three players named by Pro Football Weekly, ESPN.com has confirmed, was advised by his agent to come clean with the league if asked about marijuana. The rationale: Teams perform so much due diligence that they would likely discover any issues in their own investigations, and to lie about any such issue would just compound a club's suspicions. The player in question had already admitted marijuana use during a team interview at the Senior Bowl, and the agent felt that if one club knew of the admission, the other 31 were likely to find out as well.

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Like it or not, that pretty much makes them typical college students. What it does not make them is blockheads and, because of that, their draft stock isn't likely to slip.

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Another decent write up. I was expecting these 3 to get royally bashed by somebody, and they still may, but the big names will not be the ones to do it.

Johnson is doing anything to make his stock fall. Does not want to play for the Raiders. Just kidding, of course