American professional football is a dangerous sport. It causes severe injuries and when players retire the cumulative toll of playing has an adverse impact on their quality of life. Ex-NFL RB Ricky Williams wants the league to allow players to use cannabis as part of their recovery.
The Benefits Of Marijuana
The taboo around marijuana use has subsided some, and there has been enough credible medical literature published on its benefits.
Williams and many current and retired athletes have been advocates for its use and are in the cannabis business.
Highsman, Williams’ cannabis brand, was created to provide communities of sports fans and marijuana enthusiasts with a platform to own their relationship with cannabis and its healing properties.
Williams has talked openly for decades on the benefits marijuana has had on his mental and physical health.
“I think the next step, though, is at the end of a game, if we’re on the plane ride home, the trainer is walking down the aisle and has two capsule cases — one of Ambien, and the other one of Vicodin,” Williams said. “And he’s walking down the aisle and saying, ‘Do you need any of this, do you need any of this?'”
“And the truth is, for football players, we do need something because it hurts, and you’re all revved up and it’s hard to calm down go to sleep. And I’d love to see cannabis as being one of those things that the trainer is walking down the aisle and offering to those players.”
What Does The NFL Think?
The NFL’s pushback will be on regulation of its use, to ensure players aren’t abusing it. Players abuse Vicodin and all sorts of medications as it is.
No, the league and the owners still operate from a 1960s and ’70s playbook when it comes to its majority Black labor force engaging with the drug.
But Williams and the athletes who champion its benefits don’t view cannabis that way. They generally want to make people aware of the positive impact it can have.
“We have an authentic message, and people are growing some really amazing flower that can really help people feel better,” Ricky added. “If we can be a person that can make that connection on the cannabis side, that feels great to us.”
One day sports leagues worldwide will evolve, along with the rest of mainstream society, and realize the benefits of cannabis and allow its use.
