One of the swirling rumors or explanations for Ricky Williams’s abrupt decision to retire is that he knew he was facing another drug suspension for marijuana. This would’ve been his second failed test since joining the Dolphins and thus would’ve led to a $650,000 fine and other hassles. Whether this has anything to do with Williams’s decision to retire or not, the fact that the NFL fines their players for marijuana use is absurd.
Why is the NFL testing their players for marijuana? Do they audit their players to keep them from setting up shady businesses? Do they check on their players to make sure they’re not accused of, say, murder? Do they fine their players for drinking too much too often? What’s the fine for assaulting your wife? Bet you don’t know but trust me, they’re not anywhere near $650K (or even a game check for star players).
The bottom line is that the marijuana policy is more PR than anything else. It’s not a competitive issue, nor is it something of special concern for the NFL to monitor. It shouldn’t be tested for, because it’s not their job to keep the players out of trouble. It’s the player’s responsibility to stay out of trouble and the government’s job to police them. We don’t expect the NFL to prevent players from dealing with other potential legal troubles but somehow non-competitive drug use gets the NFL’s harshest treatment.
They should go back to the normal “criminal conviction” fine for marijuana use and not hold it up to the standards of competitive substance abuse.
July 28th, 2004 at 11:06 am
Sujal, what’s the breakdown for fines/suspensions for the different categories of substance violations?
July 28th, 2004 at 11:53 am
details aren’t really for public consumption, as far as I’ve been told so far. I’m going to ask around some more, but I can’t guarantee an answer.
July 28th, 2004 at 3:41 pm
Foxsports called Williams “selfish” for leaving the Dolphins, having “destroyed the immeadiate future of the franchise.” While I’ll admit that the guy is kind of a dick for leaving a week before training camp, but it seems that if he wants to quit the game, it is his right.
He obviously doesn’t like playing football, otherwise he would stick it out. This whole drug violation thing seems like a red herring; While a 650K fine is big, he is making 3.6M a year. It seems like a really huge hit to avoid a much smaller one.
July 28th, 2004 at 3:57 pm
well, people aren’t talking about the money as to why it might be a factor… it’s the fact that he’s tired of the hassles, the scrutiny over things he thinks don’t affect his football, etc. Le Betard has been saying that Williams told him he wants more out of his life. That alone is probably unfathomable to many people, but I can kinda see how that makes sense.
July 28th, 2004 at 4:17 pm
The issue seems to me and this may be a personal opinion, not a factual opinion, that the NFL has gone a long way to change the image of the league. To market the league to kids and adults and put community role models out there as local sports heroes. In doing so, the NFL created the mandatory community service day for all NFL teams in conjunction with the United Way and they have started to do away with all narcotics, criminal behavior and distractions.
The drug tests are league policy. Every player takes one at least once a year. It is part of the collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners. I for one applaud the ability of both sides to recognize a problem that exists and to agree to a solution that is the best interest of both parties; the players and the league.
Financial interests of players are league policy (ie: Jerome Bettis’ stake in a gambling business in Pennsylvania).
Convictions are league business and do entail fines and suspensions. Unfortunately, alleged crimes are not punished unless a conviction is rendered.
Do I agree in the cases above that drug testing should take an immediate punishment while an alleged spousal abuse (which by the way, I may add may get tossed out or plead out with the DA) gets waited upon? No.
But not everything is fair in the league. Kudos to the league and the players union for attempting to do something about the image of the NFL. They may not have perfected their system or found a fair and balanced way to approach the problems, but at least it is a work in progress; a positive direction.
Ricky Williams is, as stated above, selfish. If he retired because he lost zest for the game, then retire in January or February and allow Miami the ability to replace him. If he retired because of an impending drug suspension, then he is much more then selfish; he is a coward! If you do the crime, do the time. Simple as that. He knew the rules, he violated the rules and instead of facing the consequences, he turn and ran away. Coward!
So you are right that there is a difference between illegal and “illegal” but this wasn’t an arbitrary league decision. This was a rule that every player knows about from day one. From signing the contract to “Rookies School” on behavior off the field to simple respect for the game. The punishment may be excessive. It may be wrong in our eyes but Lawrence Taylor served his time and so have so many other great players along the way. Not one has ever complained about breaking a rule that they knew about and agreed to abide by as a player in the National Football League.
Ricky Williams is a coward and I hope Miami is able to recoup the $8.8 million they may be owed by Ricky because of his early retirement.
July 28th, 2004 at 5:19 pm
No one is saying that they shouldn’t care about drug use… just that they shouldn’t test for drugs that don’t directly deal with the game of football… the rest should be handled by the same legal penalty and clinical needs clauses of the contracts… (google search for nfl drug policy and you’ll find a Findlaw page that has the boilerplate).
July 29th, 2004 at 11:14 am
But do drugs deal directly with the game? I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a 1st year med student, so maybe Bram should weigh in on this subject… because we all know 1st year’s know nothing…..just kidding.
He said that THC stores up in fat cells and can actually be used again. It is the equivalent of “runner’s high” which is why runners carbo-load before a big race… so the carbs are stored and then used during the race.
If this is the case (and once again, I would defer to the judgement of someone with medical backround), then the THC would be released during a game or a practice. Basically, in simple terms, making the player high during the game or the practice.
If that is the case (and once again, I will defer to medical professionals), being on the field while high would be considered an action detrimental to the game and should result in monitoring of some kind by league officials and not just the local law enforcement. It is a violent game. It would make it difficult to determine injuries if a player were technically under the influence of a foreign substance.
Bram… please correct and mistakes I have made in this post. I am speaking not as a medical expert but as someone who had a conversation with a 1st year med student.
July 29th, 2004 at 6:25 pm
In theory yes. In reality, it seems pretty weak. I’m not an expert here either, but the amounts that are stored would be pretty low. The amounts that would be released would be very low.
As a note, the science behind carbo loading is really weak. No matter how much you load, you use of the liver’s stores of carbohydrates really fast.
I don’t really buy the injury argument either. Players play having taken legally prescribed muscle relaxants and painkillers all the time.
I think it is really a role model thing. It looks bad for the NFL if its players take drugs. Whether they like it or not, kids do look up to them. The NFL, needs, for its own image reasons, to have a firm antidrug stance. I don’t really think that a child is going to/not going take drugs because Ricky Williams does/does not, however, image is important.
July 29th, 2004 at 11:06 pm
I think that’s the point, though… I think it looks bad for the NFL if their players have wild orgies or group sex parties at their house. I think it looks bad for the NFL if their players hire hookers for a party. I think it looks bad for the NFL if their players drive drunk.
In all those cases, though, the NFL only doesn’t screen or intrude on the players in any sort of preemptive testing or monitoring. That’s all I’m saying… they treat this particular law breaking/role model issue differently than the rest. It’s unfortunate, because it seems to penalize players pretty heavily for off field activity that I don’t think would get reported anyway (assuming that PR or role model issues are the reason for this policy). I definitely don’t think drugs like marijuana affect on field performance (I’ve never read ANYTHING on this issue that would support what Doug is describing above). Otherwise we’d be hearing stories about how Williams isn’t just a quitter but a cheat for improving his game via some good asian marijuana.
Think about it this way… are the stories “player X smoked pot last week” or are they “player X was suspended 4 games for violating the substance abuse policy.” When you’re doing the PR math on that, which a) actually happens and b) is worse?
It’s not about hiding it, it’s about treating the players like adults and treating each transgression of the law like any other. Fine em if they’re convicted.