When I fist saw the Rotoworld blurb about Irving announcing his retirement by lighting up a joint on Instagram, they made it sound like a Ricky Williams type of thing, where he was quitting because he just wanted to smoke pot and "have more fun it appears". But if you actually listen to what he was saying, he's making an important point. When it comes to dealing with the chronic pain caused by playing football, he would rather use marijuana than all of the opioids that are completely legal and approved by the league but actually represent a far greater long-term health risk. And I have to say, it's hard to argue with his logic.
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David Irving goes out in a blaze of glory (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter zftcg
- Start date
rockaction
Footballguy
This issue is going to be looked back upon and people will be shaking their heads about how we restricted this substance from people, ruining careers in the process.
I don't disagree with the first part. That said, I think it's going to be pretty tough to argue that the restrictions currently surrounding marijuana use "ruined careers." Regardless of the quite legitimate point Irving has, the way he's choosing to handle this is his decision. Nobody is ruining his career by restricting his right to smoke weed.
Cowboysfan8
Footballguy
Later Dave
rockaction
Footballguy
Bronco Billy
Footballguy
Because people can’t possibly live without it? I fully support legalization and have for a long, long time, but in the meantime people who have had their careers ruined by detection of mj use against company policy have had it happen because of a choice that they made.
One thing I noticed about Irving is that he seems to be owning up to the fact that this is his decision. His line about how he's willing to "Kaepernick" himself says to me that he's making a conscious choice to quit in order to underscore his point about the NFL's cockamamie stance on pot vs. prescription painkillers. Now, it may be this is all BS, because he had just gotten suspended again and who knows how much longer his career was going to last, but I'm guessing he's leaving at least some money on the table, and I think it's admirable for him that he is willing to sacrifice for a principle.
I don't disagree with you, but Irving's point is that it's a choice the NFL shouldn't be forcing players to make. I haven't smoked pot in years, and I have no idea of its value as a painkiller, but apparently there are lots of people who swear by it. And given the level of pain nearly all NFL players experience, one could argue that the league's stance effectively forces them to take opioids and other prescription painkillers in order to maintain their careers, while preventing them from using an option with far fewer side effects.
-X-
Footballguy
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Bronco Billy
Footballguy
Again, I fully support legalized use of mj - medicinal and recreational. But it is still a Federal offense to use it, and a company is well within its rights to test for it as a banned substance. Until that changes, a person has a choice to either not use it or accept the risk of the consequences. Given the opioid addiction crisis going on in the country and that mj is a legitimate alternative to pain relief is a different argument, and again you’ll find me on the side of legalization in that debate. Always have been, always will be. And FWIW, I’ve never tried its use to date.
fantasycurse42
Footballguy Jr.
I agree with his stance on the issue, but if you want to write a book on how to cost yourself $10's of millions, , it wouldn't be authentic without this guy as a key figure.
Warhogs
Footballguy
I understand the stance as well but the federal government still says it's illegal. We are obviously seeing many signs pointing to legalization in the near future and it's an individual decision but I don't know that I would walk away from millions of dollars because of what I could take for pain. Well, maybe if I already had millions?
fantasycurse42
Footballguy Jr.
If he has millions, it sure as #### isn't from football.
If the guy could've just kept cool, he would've been able to earn generational changing money to power his family for a very long time - now, I get the sense we'll read a sad story about this guy in 5-10 years.
Bronco Billy
Footballguy
I respect his decision. Hopefully he won’t regret it after it’s too late to change his mind. I’m pretty certain I couldn’t walk away from the opportunity to make that kind of capital in such a short period in exchange for the pain and potential long term health issues, so he’s doing something that I probably couldn’t.
That's what I admire about his decision. He is accepting the consequences in order to make a point, even though it is potentially costing him millions of dollars.
That's why I really hope the narrative that Rotoworld was pushing about him being some lazy pothead doesn't take hold.
G
Guest
Guest
It’s me man, DAVE!
-OZ-
Footballguy
Sure it's a choice they make. And the NFL has the right to keep it against company policy. But to have opioids legal and MJ not is really stupid on the federal level. The NFL is not your typical company, if a product doesn't cause harm and helps alleviate the pain caused by the job, I'll support it.Bronco Billy said:
Sure. Or Patrick Willis, Calvin Johnson, Patrick Tillman... Different reasons for sure but all of them turned big money down.fantasycurse42 said:
Mr. Irrelevant
IBL Representative
Wall Street and private equity are just now jumping into the cannabis markets. There will be more legal money poured into the industry in the next 2 years than in the prior 200.
If Irving and his agent were thinking ahead, he wouldn't have had much trouble working out endorsement / marketing deals that paid him at least as much as he made on his rookie NFL deal, with a much smaller chance of picking up CTE along the way.
While I 100% support his stance, absent that type of imminent announcement it seems more to me like a guy who shot his meal ticket purely out of spite.
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Hankmoody
Footballguy
I agree that in 5 years it's going to be considered a travesty that this wasn't a medical option, but the only ones "ruining careers" are those that are making the wilful choice to break the rules.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
Don't kid yourself. This isn't some noble "falling on his sword" so others can benefit issue. This is a raged out entitled athlete that's being told no for perhaps the first time in his life and he's on full tilt about having consequences to his decisions.
It's too bad, because his message definitely has merit, but he's going about it the entirely wrong way. He could have gained a much bigger following and maintained much more credibility had he not acted like a petulant child about it. And I doubt his sincerity or understanding of the full issue - he just has a small agenda he wants to push and isn't interested in the entire picture. Corporate sponsors would line up behind a guy that could maintain his cool and have a respectful conversation about an important topic. But getting blazed on camera and bashing the entity whose policy you just broke immediately after they handed down their punishment isn't going to get anyone anywhere.
It's ironic he refers to it as "Kaepernicking" himself, because he's repeated virtually every misstep that KC did and lost any credibility in the process as KC did.
rockaction
Footballguy
Yeah, the CBA is the CBA for a reason, but the disciplinary structure, largely subject to Gooddell's whims, should be changed.
I also agreed that the "ruining careers" comment was less than nuanced (I was on my phone waiting for an appt.) and that there's plenty of responsibility to go around.
whole-show
Footballguy
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
I wish he didn't flame out in Dallas. He is REALLY, REALLY good.
