Marijuana and Football Players

[Atbone95]

It doesn't matter if it's addictive or not. It doesn't matter if it's better or worse for you than alcohol. It doesn't matter if it's legal or illegal. We're talking about usage by high level D1 athletes. It should not be tolerated in the team environment. I sure wouldn't allow it on my team, if I wanted my team to perform at peak efficiency. I guarantee you smokin the ganja is not helping players perform better on the field. No sense analyzing it any further than that.

Neither is eating Burger King, but you aren't going to prevent your players from that.

You're sure as hell going to try to prevent it. These guys are not your average run of the mill college student. A lot more can and should be expected of them. It's incredibly easy to not play D1 college football. But, if you sign up to play at a place like Nebraska, then you need to do things better. That includes avoiding alcohol, weed, drugs, fast food, etc. If any player can't handle that responsibility then I'm sure they would be more than welcome to participate in flag football or rec center ball.
Heck, when my son ran cross country in high school they were prohibited from drinking sodas or eating fast food. It isn't out of line to expect these guys to live a little cleaner and avoid things that are detrimental to their performance.

And I guarantee he never cheated, right? Some people... Take a look at some of our OL/DL Twitter's and look at what they eat. Then, do me a favor and walk up to them and kindly tell them to put it down. I hope your medical insurance covers the aftermath.

 

[JJ Husker]

What's your point Atbone? It's not my job to stop, limit, or prevent these players from consuming stuff that does more damage than good. I would think any kid who has aspirations of playing football for a place like Nebraska can control what they put in their body, for their own good and for the good of the team. It's ridiculous to not expect them todo the right thing.

And my son did not cheat on drinking sodas, especially in season. Nobody is saying NEVER have these things but seriously limiting them? You bet. Personally I wouldn't want any player that didn't have the self control and respect for their body and for the team. I really don't care if these guys could kick my a$$ or not. That isn't the point.

 

[True2tRA]

Athletes and injuries using Medical Marijuana compared to the narcotic drugs they are prescribed now, I mean do the research, it is hands down better for your body in the long run than the narcotic drugs they have to take now. I have never tried pot but if the research is correct I really don't understand why anyone would argue that Medical marijuana is a horrible thing. And not only for pain, I have diabetes in my family horrible and I often wonder after reading articles how that could have changed the quality of life for some of them.

My son has taken drugs, FDA approved, that are horribly addictive and horrible for your body and mind. All in an effort to stop seizures. Drug companies are getting rich off these things. They hand them out the pharmacy window without even a flinch. All because somebody says its "okay". Yet we are still a blind society regardless of how much support and evidence there is for the medical benefits of marijuana. Why? All because you've been taught from the get go that this drug is bad. Funny thing is, it's grown from "God's" green earth. Not manufactured in a laboratory. Do the research people, and make up your own mind.

 

[Atbone95]

What's your point Atbone? It's not my job to stop, limit, or prevent these players from consuming stuff that does more damage than good. I would think any kid who has aspirations of playing football for a place like Nebraska can control what they put in their body, for their own good and for the good of the team. It's ridiculous to not expect them todo the right thing.

And my son did not cheat on drinking sodas, especially in season. Nobody is saying NEVER have these things but seriously limiting them? You bet. Personally I wouldn't want any player that didn't have the self control and respect for their body and for the team. I really don't care if these guys could kick my a$$ or not. That isn't the point.

My point is that you're unreasonable, and I'll stop there because, case in point, anything I say after here will not make a difference.

 

[junior4949]

That's right, they are still human beings and they can choose how they want to live their life. And football teams can set reasonable limits on their behavior. They can choose to avoid that garbage in their lives or they can choose to get drunk, high, or eat like sh#t and they can do something other than play D1 football. It's not rocket science.

Look at it this way, you take your team of drinkers, tokers, and fast food fatties and put them up against my team, where that behavior is not allowed, all other things being equal, who's going to win that contest 9 out of 10 times? Spare me the "but they're just college students like everyone else" bs. They are high level athletes that can be held to a higher standard. The choice is theirs.

I'm not sure how old you are or if that even matters, but TO did take a LOT of drinkers and won NC's with them. I was in college during the run. On just about any given weekend during the season except for away games several of the starters were downtown at the bars. I'm sure it was suggested they don't drink during the season, but most of them did.

If a coach tries to rule a team with an iron fist banning all of the things you mention, I'd venture to guess that said coach would lose the contest 9 out of 10 times against the coach that allowed those who are/were of legal age to partake. Players don't typically respond well to coaches who try to run the team like a dictatorship. One of the biggest tokers ever on a Husker football team also had probably one of the longest careers as a RB in the NFL. I have no opinion on whether marijuana should be legalized or not. However, if it is legalized I don't see how a coach can ban use.

 

[JJ Husker]

Wow, what a difference a few years make. I'm unreasonable for expecting players to avoid things that are bad for their body and performance? Well f#*k me. Maybe, just maybe, this attitude that some others are proposing is why our football team has sucked a$$ for over ten years. I know all about the antics of those mid 90's teams but at least they brought their A game to practice and on Saturdays. Call me crazy but if my team is struggling with Wyoming, Minnesota, and Iowa, I'm sure as hell going to make sure it isn't their off field behavior that is the problem. When these guys start kicking a$$ and taking names, then I won't care how much they drink or toke. If that's unreasonable, too f'ing bad.

 

[Enhance]

I'm not for or against recreational marijuana use. Personally, I think it should be legalized for taxing purposes and because I believe it's a less destructive substance than alcohol.

Back to the original point, though, I wouldn't want my players using it. It still contains cancer-inducing substances and isn't good for the body. Now, please don't go reminding me that there are benefits to it's usage. I'm aware of them. But, college players are likely getting high for the fun of it, not because they have glaucoma.

Substances that have the potential to affect your physical play shouldn't be allowed. To my understanding, occasionally going out for a few drinks doesn't carry the same health risks as smoking a few joints a week.

 

[Atbone95]

Wow, what a difference a few years make. I'm unreasonable for expecting players to avoid things that are bad for their body and performance? Well f#*k me. Maybe, just maybe, this attitude that some others are proposing is why our football team has sucked a$$ for over ten years. I know all about the antics of those mid 90's teams but at least they brought their A game to practice and on Saturdays. Call me crazy but if my team is struggling with Wyoming, Minnesota, and Iowa, I'm sure as hell going to make sure it isn't their off field behavior that is the problem. When these guys start kicking a$$ and taking names, then I won't care how much they drink or toke. If that's unreasonable, too f'ing bad.

Lol.

So that's where this is coming from. You're one of those guys. Winning 9-10 games is "sucking a$$".

 

[Lincoln_Crossroads]

Wow, what a difference a few years make. I'm unreasonable for expecting players to avoid things that are bad for their body and performance? Well f#*k me. Maybe, just maybe, this attitude that some others are proposing is why our football team has sucked a$$ for over ten years. I know all about the antics of those mid 90's teams but at least they brought their A game to practice and on Saturdays. Call me crazy but if my team is struggling with Wyoming, Minnesota, and Iowa, I'm sure as hell going to make sure it isn't their off field behavior that is the problem. When these guys start kicking a$$ and taking names, then I won't care how much they drink or toke. If that's unreasonable, too f'ing bad.

Lol.

So that's where this is coming from. You're one of those guys. Winning 9-10 games is "sucking a$$".

Winning 9-10 games isn't "s#cking a$$", but at the same time the past 10 years has not been on par with Nebraska's tradition nor legacy. Nebraska should be consistently competitive for conference championships. Nebraska was competitive in 2009 and 2010. Nebraska should be consistently ranked in the top 15, with a few top 10's and top 5's even sprinkled in. That's how it was with Osborne. Nebraska was competing for national championships, not division championships. I won't settle for 9-10 wins, we should be competing to win 11-12 games a season, because if we don't, we might as well call ourselves Missouri or Iowa. Now, some of you may say, winning 11-12 games consistently is unreasonable. Fine, if the Huskers win 12, 11, 10, 9, 12, 11, 10 games a year, we'd be going somewhere, but we have not. We're stuck at 10 wins.

 

[True2tRA]

We make 10 wins sound so horrible. 10 wins is a hell of an accomplishment and should be applauded. I'm fine with the 10 wins........it's the 4 losses I usually struggle with.

 

[Atbone95]

Guys.... I have some really bad news

I just ate lunch at Panda Express and Tommy Armstrong and Jordan Westerkamp were at the table next to me and I wanted to tell them to stop but they ate it and now we're bound to lose 5 games

 

[JJ Husker]

Wow, what a difference a few years make. I'm unreasonable for expecting players to avoid things that are bad for their body and performance? Well f#*k me. Maybe, just maybe, this attitude that some others are proposing is why our football team has sucked a$$ for over ten years. I know all about the antics of those mid 90's teams but at least they brought their A game to practice and on Saturdays. Call me crazy but if my team is struggling with Wyoming, Minnesota, and Iowa, I'm sure as hell going to make sure it isn't their off field behavior that is the problem. When these guys start kicking a$$ and taking names, then I won't care how much they drink or toke. If that's unreasonable, too f'ing bad.

Lol.
So that's where this is coming from. You're one of those guys. Winning 9-10 games is "sucking a$$".

Actually, no, winning 9-10 games is not sucking a$$. However, losing 3-4 mostly easily winnable games by beating yourselves IS sucking a$$.

But "where this is coming from" is you calling the statement I made unreasonable. All I've said is that athletes who sign up to play football at Nebraska (or any big time D1 program) should be expected to make some sacrifices to help assure their maximum performance. Yes,I expect them to drink less, smoke less, eat fast food less, etc. than the general student population. Why? Because their peak performance dictates that they do so and it shouldn't be viewed as some unreasonable expectation. The reasonable expectation is, if they want to do these things, then maybe they aren't putting forth the required effort to remain on the team. This ain't rec ball, we don't have to settle for whatever behavior the players deem appropriate. We don't have to take whatever shows that day. There can be reasonable limits and rules in place. Nowhere have I said, one Big Mac and your off the team, smoke weed 1 or 2 times and your off the team, have a few beers and your off the team.....I'm not proposing zero tolerance. But it sure seems like your opposed to any limits on their behavior. How can that be? That seems way more unreasonable to me than expecting these players to do what it takes to perform at a high level.

At the risk of yet another thread devolving into 9 win/4 loss territory, all I can say is, I'm 51 years old and have followed this team very closely since about our first 2 natties in the early 70's. I attended UNL 81-85ish (the scoring explosion years- Gill, Rozier, Fryar, etc.). I was around for 90's. Do I have high expectations? You're f'ing right I do. Has anything since the time of Crouch resembled what I am accustomed to? No, no it hasn't. "Sucking a$$" may be a bit of hyperbole but, when you look at how we have generally performed and how we have lost, it sure does seem to be more accurate than not. If you don't expect excellence, you might just get exactly what expect and, in my book, this hasn't been "Nebraska" since the first day Bill Callahan stepped on our field. And yes, I am getting tired of too many half assed efforts and lists of excuses. If that's unreasonable, so be it.

 

[JJ Husker]

Guys.... I have some really bad news

I just ate lunch at Panda Express and Tommy Armstrong and Jordan Westerkamp were at the table next to me and I wanted to tell them to stop but they ate it and now we're bound to lose 5 games

Please grow up or at least comprehend what points are being made.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Our players could smoke, drink and steal bikes a LOT less than their fellow students, but the fact is if they do it only once they can be held to a higher standard, and it will be extremely public. It's the same standard that makes them local heroes.

Some are entitled pricks. Some are cool dudes. But they're all 18 -22 year old college students. If they're not attending Brigham Young, it's kinda crazy to think they should avoid all the fun that makes up our own college nostalgia.

My guess is that "killer instinct" is separate from substance use. Those mid-90s Husker teams most definitely partied, and broke the law more often than Pelini squads. Our current 4 loss malaise has a lot to do with attitude, but I think there are far more factors involved than pot and alcohol use that likely fits the average for other teams and for other decades.

I'm looking forward to Johnny Manzeil's first professional year. I'm not sure how much I like the guy, but I think it's refreshing how unapologetic he is. Why the hell wouldn't a young football star party in Las Vegas? So far he's brought it on the field.

 

[HUSKER 37]

That's right, they are still human beings and they can choose how they want to live their life. And football teams can set reasonable limits on their behavior. They can choose to avoid that garbage in their lives or they can choose to get drunk, high, or eat like sh#t and they can do something other than play D1 football. It's not rocket science.

Look at it this way, you take your team of drinkers, tokers, and fast food fatties and put them up against my team, where that behavior is not allowed, all other things being equal, who's going to win that contest 9 out of 10 times? Spare me the "but they're just college students like everyone else" bs. They are high level athletes that can be held to a higher standard. The choice is theirs.

I'm not sure how old you are or if that even matters, but TO did take a LOT of drinkers and won NC's with them. I was in college during the run. On just about any given weekend during the season except for away games several of the starters were downtown at the bars. I'm sure it was suggested they don't drink during the season, but most of them did.

If a coach tries to rule a team with an iron fist banning all of the things you mention, I'd venture to guess that said coach would lose the contest 9 out of 10 times against the coach that allowed those who are/were of legal age to partake. Players don't typically respond well to coaches who try to run the team like a dictatorship. One of the biggest tokers ever on a Husker football team also had probably one of the longest careers as a RB in the NFL. I have no opinion on whether marijuana should be legalized or not. However, if it is legalized I don't see how a coach can ban use.

Funny...When I read JJHusker1's post, I immediately thoutght of Miami's teams playing against our Huskers over the years..And a huffing Warren Sapp...Some wins..Some Losses..But doubtful a whole team can be characterized one way or the other.

Meanwhile...I'm SO glad I saw THIS in time...