Remember Ricky Williams? The 1998 Heisman Trophy winner is considered to be something of an NFL bust despite gaining 10-thousand yards rushing in an 11-year career. Williams was drafted by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in he–with Head Coach and General Manager Mike Ditka mortgaging the franchise’s future by trading away years worth’s of picks to move up to get him. Needless to say, his numbers, and the Saints’ fortunes didn’t live up to expectations–so he was traded a few years later to Miami, where he was All-Pro one season.
But then came a suspension for marijuana use, and Williams announced he was retiring from football rather than live by the NFL’s “draconian” drug policies. There was a storyline at that time that Williams “quit football to dedicate himself to smoking marijuana”. It didn’t help that he did interviews talking about getting high as a “religious experience” and wanting to travel the world searching for new ways to “explore” with drug use. Eventually he came back to the NFL after sitting out a year and was a productive player for a couple more seasons. But that stigma stuck: “Ricky Williams is more about getting baked than playing football”.
You probably don’t remember Josh Gordon. He is a highly-talented wide receiver that was suspended five times by the NFL over a tumultuous career that has seen him bounce around four franchises–each saying that he deserves “another chance” (so long as he can produce on the field–otherwise, hit the bricks, pal). The suspensions alternate between failing drug tests for use of marijuana and alcohol. He was also suspended and kicked off the team at Baylor in college for marijuana use.
Every time Gordon has applied for reinstatement from the league, and another team would bring him in, fans would roll their eyes–sure that he was going to be suspended again in the middle of the season and create chaos for their squad. I’ve always pointed to both him and Ricky Williams whenever people arguing for greater marijuana use claim it’s “not addictive”–because here are two guys that literally gave up millions of dollars in earnings because they couldn’t stop smoking the bud.
Now I want you to compare the public reaction to Ricky Williams and Josh Gordon’s substance abuse to last week’s admission from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers that he credits his late-career success to having drank psychedelic tea while on a trip to Peru in 2020. Ayahuasca tea contains a hallucinogenic substance called DMT–which is a Schedule 1 controlled substance under US law. However, it is not on the NFL’s list of banned substances–so the league announced that Rodgers will not face any disciplinary action.
But what really struck me is how Rodgers admission that he is getting high in the off-season didn’t result in any questions about his commitment to his team and his sport–like both Ricky Williams and Josh Gordon had to deal with their entire careers. “That’s just Aaron Rodgers being Aaron Rodgers!” they say. In fact, Rodgers credits his drug use to “improving his mental health”–which I’m sure has to really stick in the craws of Williams and Gordon–as they have admitted to use illegal drugs to deal with their own mental health issues–resulting in severe penalties and public mockery. Apparently those two, were just ahead of their times.
You could argue that there are some major differences Aaron Rodgers, Ricky Williams, and Josh Gordon. One is considered to be one of the greatest of all time at his position (playoff performances not withstanding), and Rodgers admits to one use of illicit substances–while the other two had multiple violations over multiple years. Perhaps most importantly though, Rodgers is white and the other two players are Black. And Rodgers’ admission comes at a time when two generations of young white people in this country are demanding that they be allowed to get high when they want–without the legal and career ramifications that drug users dealt with in past. Which is why legalization of marijuana is all the rage now.
As he has proven with his back-shoulder throws to Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams throughout his career, Aaron Rodgers just has a knack for good timing.
