Josh Gordon to be Re-Instated

The wide receiver will be conditionally reinstated and face a four-game suspension, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reports, per a source informed of the decision. As part of his reinstatement, Gordon will be able to take part in training camp and play in preseason games, though he'll still have to participate in treatment.

Click to expand...

bmorepunk":3nj211u9 said:

How many weeks until he blows it?

Click to expand...

TwistedHusky":2t1xitbj said:

I think we need to ask the other question.

What kind of thing makes a person give up millions of dollars in order to continue to take a drug, especially a drug that is legal in nearly 20 states (medical)?

Click to expand...

bmorepunk":2y37g1wp said:

How many weeks until he blows it?

Click to expand...

TwistedHusky":106w5qu9 said:

I think we need to ask the other question.

What kind of thing makes a person give up millions of dollars in order to continue to take a drug, especially a drug that is legal in nearly 20 states (medical)?

You have 2 options:*

1 - Addiction

We are past the point where the athlete is just doing this because they "want to get high". The cost vs benefit is so out of whack it almost has to only be a self gratification issue if the athlete has the inability to manage short term gratification vs long term health/benefit. And that starts being a cognitive issue then.

2 - Undiagnosed (or unrevealed but diagnosed) mental illness

I cannot speak for athletes, but having come from music and now in technology - there are areas where people with mental illness self-medicate. One key way that mentally ill people self-medicate is through drugs (in fact, music itself is often a means of self medicating/coping initially that then becomes less effective and gradually gets replaced by alcohol/drugs). I can see that happening for athletes as well.

There are a number of athletes I think you can look at where the behavior points to mild to significant mental health issues. And considering the % of the populace that ends up affected, it would be reasonable to assume a similar % of athletes are going to get impacted.

So the question is simple, is it reasonable to just have an arbitrary law in place to prohibit a mechanism that people use to manage a problem, that often they have no control over when that method is legal in half the US anyway, less destructive than alcohol, less addictive/damaging than opiates, and addresses pain management which most athletes have to deal with anyway.

Considering the track record, we have certain athletes that clearly need help. I think we are way past the "they just keep making stupid choices" space (Aldon Smith excepted...that video was stupid as hell). At some point, while they are responsible for their behavior - they are also clearly dealing with something. And it probably isn't addiction, since this kind of thing addiction is the symptom often, not the root cause.

I actually think this is the case with Blackmon, and guys in the past like Terrell Owens (who didn't seem to be a big druggie but had a history of erratic behavior). Certainly Ricky Williams would be another guy I think had to learn to deal with some things and was not ready for the league yet.

The way the league is treating Cannabis seems way out of whack vs the danger to society, the impact on the game, or other reasonable variables. And while there is impact on the player, some of those using cannabis for help are probably in more danger without it (say vs depression as an example). It clearly isn't the only solution though.

The league needs to have a system in place to identify mental illness and help those affected manage it without fear of losing their job by exposing it. Helping players with undiagnosed mental illness identify and manage it is going to reduce the suspensions for drug use that could be being used to deal with the effects for those afflicted/unhelped now.


* aware you could argue that some of this is a side effect of trying to treat CTE symptoms but we don't have enough data to know that yet. Certainly it passes the smell test that some % stem from this too.

Click to expand...