Well, we know who won’t be the Green Bay Packers’ starting running back when they open the season. It won’t be Aaron Jones.
Jones will be gone for the first two games of the season. He’s been suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
The suspension stems from his arrest last October. Jones was pulled over and during the traffic stop he admitted to smoking weed.
And you know the NFL can’t have dudes smoking weed, something that is completely legal in nine states and medically legal in 30. Wisconsin, of course, has thus far been too stupid to get on that train. Don’t need the extra tax dollars, it seems.
These suspensions are always inevitable, of course. And Jones wasn’t the only guy to get The Ginger Hammer.
To recap the NFL’s typical pre-July 4 fireworks:
Packers’ RB Aaron Jones suspended two games for Substance Abuse Policy.
Rams’ OL Jamon Brown suspended two games for the same.
And 49ers’ LB Reuben Foster also suspended two games for same policy violation.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 3, 2018
He is, however, as far as we know, the only guy suspended who helps old ladies at the airport.
We would suspect tight end Lance Kendricks will also be getting some sort of suspension. He was arrested in the exact same fashion last September. However, he never got charged as far as we know, so we’ll see.
There is an arrest video out there, however.
So what does this do to the Packers’ running back competition?
We would put money on Jones to lead that three-man committee, which also features Ty Montgomery and Jamaal Williams. It really appears that the Packers will end up leading with Montgomery now. At least until he gets injured, which hopefully won’t be in the first two games.
When Jones returns on September 17, he’s going to have to earn carries back.
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Doesn’t matter, McCarthy wasn’t going to use Jones until Montgomery or Williams get injured anyway.
I would think an appeal is in order. Try to get it down to one game. Didn’t both of the assholes who headhunted D. Adams last year appeal two game suspensions and have them reduced to one?
I thought the NFL did not suspend for first marijuana offense? It just puts the player in the program. It is the second offense that gets a 2 game suspension. This may suggest Jones had a failed test in addition to the arrest last October.
And you know the NFL can’t have dudes smoking weed, something that is completely legal in nine states and medically legal in 30. Wisconsin, of course, has thus far been too stupid to get on that train.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, in those nine states how much can a railroad locomotive engineer smoke and still run a train? How about an airline pilot? Next time you take a flight, ask yourself if it is okay if the pilot does a wake and bake like Mr. Jones. How about a truck driver? Twist a fatty for breakfast and drive 80,000 # down the road, yeah cool. Maybe a heavy equipment operator. Fireman, EMT, health care provider, how about them? How stoned is okay? Find me a good limit that can be easily tested for.
Yes, there is a trend to legalize in many places. That’s fine and I’m okay with that but let’s not confuse something here. Whatever the State of Wisconsin thinks about your recreational deal today, or in the future when it might be legal, your employer might have other things to say about it. If you want to be a pot head, you can be a self employed writer, or a bartender, a waitress, a clerk at a pot dispensary, or some other low end occupation and probably do that forever and never face a drug test unless you become injured on the job (because Workman’s Comp checks med records). You won’t advance much but you’ll get to use your pot.
Go get a job in any other much better paying professional occupation and there’s that pesky drug testing again. Because the courts have ruled that even in states where it is legal, it can still be tested and governed by your employer. Think of NFL teams with multi-million dollar investments in players and I don’t think this is going away anytime soon. Weed might not be a big deal but it is to NFL owners apparently. They just don’t want to be seen as going permissive on the issue, and should they? These are role models for youth. Do you want to send the message to the up and coming players tomorrow, or kids in general that this is a training rule worthy of breaking (as opposed to the others)?
Mr. Jones was driving. Wisconsin has a Restricted Controlled Substance OWI law and it states that any detectable amount of an RCS is illegal while driving. This is what may very well step it to the suspension level that it is at. He may have toked up pretty good (compared to Lance Hendricks).
Now it is apparent that Mordi hates him some police. He was digging on Colin’s pig socks back when and every time he get’s to lay two cents on this issue it is along the lines of, this country/state/league is so stoooopid for not legalizing weed, and the NFL is dumber yet for not leading the way. Go ahead, legalize it. There will still be a need for the police to make sure people aren’t driving under the influence just like with alcohol, Rx drugs, other street drugs, or any combination thereof. There will still be a threshold age just like there is with alcohol. There will still be problems associated with it that the police will be tasked with dealing with. Like it or not.
Mr. Jones violated employment rules and rules of the road. That’s what this boils down to.
Odd post. All sorts of references to people getting high on the job, while Jones was arrested while he was off work, which is kind of the crux of the issue with weed use in the NFL. Players use it to mitigate pain without relying on opiods, WHEN THEY’RE NOT WORKING.
At least it was a rational, measured editorial considering both sides of an issue instead of a biased screed with an agenda
I get your point about the first part. I was incomplete in the reference. I was not trying to reference people getting high on the job, I was trying to make the point of simply passing a drug test for a whole host of other occupations. The fact is that employment related drug testing exists and will exist even after states legalize recreational (eh hum, pain mitigation) use. Pot just happens to stay in the system a whole while longer than alcohol, which goes out through a digestive metabolism process. Lots of drugs, legal and not, are detectable for a good bit longer. Drug testing in the workplace is keeping a whole bunch of folks from being employed. The NFL has drug testing too.
Now on the issue of players giving it some legitimacy for pain mitigation use, yeah maybe some. I can see some of the older, more beat up players using that angle but I don’t buy it that young Mr. Jones, in a rookie year, after playing some college and youth football in his life was/is a chronic pain sufferer trying to stay off opiods. I think he is just like a majority of young, slightly immature, players who get into the league and get some big money and they simply like their weed. They probably liked their weed in high school and college but since they were such gifted studs on the field, a look the other way culture made it easy for them to continue to play and use.
The issue of – when they are not working – possibly puts it on our time, everyone’s time, when they decide to then get behind the wheel. That was the point about explaining the RCS angle of the law. Wanna unwind, play video games, munch out, get high, and mitigate some pain in private? Do it. Have at it, just stay out of the driver’s seat when you do.
The majority of the last few Packer players to get jammed up on this were incidents born out of traffic violations. Maybe this team needs to hire a driving instructor/consultant or a dedicated Packer Uber. Hey guys, the sound barrier in Wisconsin is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 MPH, stay under that by a bunch if you are using or carrying dope. Drive a ride that suits your style but don’t go too illegal on the accoutrements like drug dealer window tint and some other things. Don’t give a trooper or traffic officer a reason to get a trained nose near your open window cause the good ones, they can tell. Stuff like that probably would eliminate a bunch of this stuff.
It’s nice to see some intelligent comments in here. Thinking a few levels below the surface. Nice job Mitch.
Maybe more to follow, i can’t be late to my job at Wendy’s again or i’m fired because i’ve had my final warning last week.