Steelers safety Ryan Clark dropped a little bomb into the team's lap on Thursday as he prepares to head into free agency.
Making one of his regular appearances on ESPN's "First Take," Clark, who is working to make sure he has a job in the media after football, said that he knows that some of his teammates smoke marijuana and that the NFL's testing for that drug isn't nearly stringent enough to catch abusers of the substance.
Clark isn't telling any secrets.
Not only are there marijuana users in the Steelers' locker room, but around the league as well. But I doubt the number of marijuana users is any higher than it is among the general public fo
r young men between the ages of 21 and 35.
In fact, in the transcript of thousands of Tweets between Ritchie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, there are some references by Martin of a party at "Pouncey's" house in which there was drug usage.
We can assume that Martin was referring to Miami center Mike Pouncey, the twin brother of Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey.
The Incognito-Martin tweets also make a great number of references to drinking alcohol as well.
So the usage of some recreational drugs by NFL players is nothing new. Ever seen North Dallas Forty?
Clark's teammates might not appreciate being outed. And I'm sure the Steelers and the NFL don't appreciate his candor in the matter.
But the league is fooling itself if it thinks an offseason drug test during OTAs or minicamp and another during training camp is going to keep its players from taking a toke here or there.
15 comments:
Reminds me more of Lee Flowers every day. All mouth, no game.
Is it the same test for PED's?
bein saying it all season. clark is fully aware his career is over and he badly wants a broadcasting job.
even though its not news, and even though its not a secret, and even though no one actually cares...i think i speak on behalf of the Rooneys when i say, "shut up, Ryan"
Yes, I believe they have an all-encompassing test
I'd bet withint the next 3-5 years pot is legal in nearly the entire US. Heck, even, staid old Pennsylvania is considering legalizing medical marijuana. It's only a matter of time before the NFL has to get on board.
I thought Clark's point about players using it to avoid getting hooked on prescription pain-killers was interesting.
They are only tested once a year for recreational drugs, randomly between April 20th and Aug 9th. Once they're tested and pass, they have a green light til the next April. As long as the player doesn't have a failed test on his record and is already in the league's system. Those players get random tested thruout the year, more than once. PEDs are randomly tested year round. Not positive, but I'm pretty sure they can be tested multiple times, not just once. PEDs and recreational drugs are treated differently by the league/union, because one is considered affects competitive balance, while the other is considered a medical issue.
I think the marijuana debate is over and done with. Like adamg said, it's only a matter of time.
I think the bigger issue is that Clark broke the trust of the locker room. Sure, he's most likely out of it, but he all but named names of his teammates.
I don't care that he outed people, but I think it would have been better and probably better accepted had he kept it the NFL generically and not outed his team. I expect the NFL to be extra diligent in finding Steeler players this offseason. It would not surprise me if we had one or two guys caught this year.
Clark has also put Tomlin in a very awkward position. Can't wait to hear the HC's verbal gymnastics on this one.
not sure why this is news. everyone already forget about holmes? and, as dale said, compare these guys to your typical 20+ year olds around the country. yeah, that's right, some of them smoke pot.
also, I don't see it as clark taking a shot at the steelers. he was discussing a controversial issue and made a personal reference with regards to his team. could he have left the steelers out of it, sure, but it doesn't really matter, imo.
he is obviously making a hard push for an analyst job. if espn doesn't hire him, he will certainly get something from fox, nfl network, etc. clark speaks well and comes across as intelligent.
we should wish him the best in his new career and thank him for laying the lumber while with the steelers. laying out wes welker (I think the guy is a prick) is one of my favorite all-time steeler hits.
doesn't matter if they are testing for weed or ped's. both testing programs are a joke, clark is right. some ped's are illegal, some aren't. (pain killer shot before game-dozen vicadins on monday) it's a joke.
some guys buy synthetic urine on the internets to pass drug tests. i'm sure these wealthy players can figure out how to beat a drug test, and the nfl doesn't have to bust anyone they don't want to bust.
if they had random testing, and say a guy like manning tested positive a week before the super bowl, no way in hell they would suspend a guy like him for the super bowl.
So that's what was wrong with Manning in the superbowl!
Manning showed the same arm strength he showed all season.
his couple of deep attempts were pathetic. he also looked totally confused by the second qtr. obviously he is a great qb, but has issues in the playoffs. something the national media is afraid to point out. because the storyline is he is a great guy.
Clark's comments explain a lot. The Steelers' season was Up in Smoke from day one.
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