Image via Complex Original
You may not know this, but a lot of Americans smoke weed. And, contrary to what the National Football League wants you to believe, some of those Americans are professional football players.
With the NFL season kicking off, let's take a moment to look back and appreciate some of the league's best stories when it comes to marijuana. Whether it's a Cowboys player caught with 213 pounds in a van, a Bears player hoping to distribute 1,000 pounds a week, or just some Eagles rookies hot-boxing a car on South Street, every team has a tale. This is Every NFL Team's Best Weed Story.
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens
Year: 2014
Deonte Thompson says he owns the bag the weed was in, but not the weed itself.
Year: 2016
Honorable mention: Ravens release starting tackle Eugene Morre, possibly because of his outspokenness against the NFL's current marijuana policy.
Cincinnati Bengals
Year: 2011
Wide receiver Jerome Simpson orders two and a half pounds of weed to his house, where he and teammate Anthony Collins are hanging out with six more pounds of weed.
Cleveland Browns
Year: 2014
Josh Gordon blames second-hand smoke for failing a drug test (after being tested over 70 times).
Pittsburgh Steelers
Year: 2014
The team's top-two running backs, Le'Beon Bell and LeGarrette Blount, are pulled over together with 20 grams of weed.
NFC North
Chicago Bears
Year: 2013
Wide Receiver Sam Hurd is arrested and sentenced to 15 years after trying to buy a kilo of cocaine and telling an undercover agent he wanted five to 10 kilos of cocaine and 1,000 POUNDS of marijuana to distribute in the Chicago area EVERY WEEK.
Detroit Lions
Year: 2012
Running back Mikel Leshoure tries to eat his weed in front of the cops when pulled over, then spits it out for them.
Green Bay Packers
Year: 2015
Letroy Guoin, a former Packers defensive lineman, is arrested with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, $190K in cash, and 357 grams of marijuana in his truck.
Minnesota Vikings
Year: 2014
Adrian Peterson gets nervous before a drug test and admits he “smoked a little weed.”
AFC South
Houston Texans
Year: 2016
Jaelen Strong pulls joints out of his crotch rather than face the K-9 unit.
Indianapolis Colts
Year: 2016
Punter tweets about 4/20. NFL drug tests him on 4/21.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Year: 2014
Justin Blackmon drives like an idiot in front of an officer, then admits to smoking a blunt while doing so.
Tennessee Titans
Year: 2003-2005
Drug dealer's court records says he purchased "high-dollar, hydroponically grown marijuana" for $650 an ounce (!), took out seven grams, and sold them to Titans players for "like a grand" (!).
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons
Year: 2013
Jason Snelling tries to casually eat the rest of his weed while officers search his car, gets caught.
Carolina Panthers
Year: 2012
Official team Twitter retweets a picture of a bag of weed on a Panthers cap after asking fans what they got for Christmas.
New Orleans Saints
Year: 2016
Ricky Williams takes steps to open a weed friendly gym.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Year: 1995
Warren Sapp tests positive for weed and cocaine at the NFL combine and gets the NFL to say that didn’t happen.
AFC West
Denver Broncos
Year: 2016
Marijuana dispensary wants to buy the naming rights to the Broncos' new stadium.
Kansas City Chiefs
Year: 1998-2000
Running back Bam Morris "admit[s] to distributing 100 kilograms of marijuana in the Kansas City."
Oakland Raiders
Year: 2016
Suspended linebacker Aldon Smith posts live Periscope of him smoking weed. Woman in video says it's a bad idea, he tells her she's tripping because "it's not like I put Aldon Smith—" before the video cuts.
San Diego Chargers
Year: 1974
NFL player calls the Chargers "the cesspool of the league" when it comes to drug use and says it split the locker room between users and non-users.
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals
Year: 2015
Rookie Robert Nkemdiche gets high and falls out of a window a few months before the draft.
LA Rams
Year: 2016
Tre Mason smokes in his Porche, ends up with multiple charges and getting stun gunned.
San Francisco 49ers
Year: 2012
Defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs gets so high he drives into a bush.
Seattle Seahawks
Year: 2006
Former player Hillary Butler tries to drive a van over the Canadian border with 140 pounds of weed.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills
Year: 2014
Marcell Dareus gets suspended for being late to team meetings, then shortly after suspended for having weed.
Miami Dolphins
Year: 2016
Videos of Laremy Tunsil smoking out of a gas mask bong surface the night of the draft.
New England Patriots
Year: 2016
Chandler Jones freaks out after smoking synthetic weed and ends up in the hospital.
NY Jets
Year: 2015
Sheldon Richardson “reeks of marijuana” while driving his Bentley at 143mph with his 12-year-old and a fully loaded gun in the back.
NFC East
NY Giants
Year: 2016
Former Giants Pro Bowl lineman Leonard Marshall becomes a pro-marijuana advocate and goes to the NYC weed expo in hopes of getting into the business.
Dallas Cowboys
Year: 2001
Nate Newtown's van is pulled over with 213 pounds of weed in Louisiana before it's pulled over with 175 pounds of weed in Texas five weeks later.
Philadelphia Eagles
Year: 2001
Three Eagles rookies are arrested for smoking while driving on South Street, one of the busiest and most police-heavy streets in Philly.
Washington Redskins
Year: 2013
Adam Carriker’s family unknowingly grows a lot of weed on their farm in Nebraska.