Don Banks has an interesting article up on SI.com right now, and it highlights the NFL’s concern with the abundance of prospects who have been red flagged for past use of marijuana.
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One personnel man went as far as to call it an “epidemic”, and they’re not exactly sure on how to draw up their draft boards. Look at this quote, where they speculate a good percentage of potential first rounders have dealt with marijuana issues:
According to one veteran club personnel man interviewed by SI.com, 10 or 11 players who carry first-round draft grades on their board this year have been red-flagged for marijuana use in college, an estimate echoed by two clubs’ head coaches. Another NFL head coach estimated that "one-third” of the players on his club’s draft board had some sort of history with marijuana use and would thus require an extra level of evaluation as part of the pre-draft scouting process.
I’m not sure why this is such a big deal this year, because there have been some big names that have been linked with marijuana use in past drafts.
Randy Moss, Warren Sapp, Calvin Johnson, and last year’s top rookie Percy Harvin all had either failed drug tests in college or admitted to using marijuana, and it’s not like their lives completely went off the tracks.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning the use of the drug, but I think it’s a little melodramatic to call it an “epidemic”.
