players

Riley Cote broke the rules constantly throughout his career with the Philadelphia Flyers. He scored just one goal and six assists in his 156 NHL games. But as an enforcer, Cote's success was measured in infractions, and by that standard – with more than 50 fights and 411 penalty minutes – he did...

A recent study co-funded by ESPN and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 52 percent of retired football players had used prescription pain drugs (opioids) during their professional careers. Of those, 63 percent admitted they received the painkillers from coaches, trainers, fellow...

Former NBA commissioner David Stern may have had serious influence on the league for 30 years, but that's not the case anymore – at least when it comes to marijuana. In a documentary produced by Uninterrupted, titled "The Concept of Cannabis," Stern said he believes marijuana "probably should...

Medical marijuana has been legalized in 29 states, but it remains illegal for professional football players to use as a treatment for injuries and chronic pain. That doesn't mean players in the National Football League aren't using the drug. Quite the opposite. Eben Britton, who retired in...

The National Football League may be warming to the idea that treating injured players with medical cannabis is preferable to the alternative: opiate painkillers. That's according to a story published in the Washington Post in July. The Post reported that the NFL sent a letter to the NFL Players...

Last month, it was reported that the National Football League reached out to the National Football League Players Association to scientifically explore the use of medical cannabis as a pain management tool for its players. Not only should this work help the NFL players, but their participation...

Eugene Monroe is on a mission. That much is evident in the urgency in Monroe's voice as he discusses the sport he played for almost two decades – the sport that earned him millions of dollars as the No. 8 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, and caused him to abruptly retire at 29 years old for...

The National Football League is back in action this weekend—if you count preseason games as "action"—after taking a tiny step toward maybe, possibly, someday letting players use marijuana to treat pain. NFL owners agreed to work together with the NFL Players Association on a study to determine...

The ethical gymnastics demanded of NFL fans have grown more challenging over the past decade as the scientific evidence linking football with brain injuries mounts. Last week's study of 111 deceased NFL players' brains found evidence of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic...

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he agreed with the NFL's decision to investigate the benefits of marijuana as a pain management drug for players. "I agree with what the NFL is doing," Jones told reporters in his Hall of Fame press conference. "There is real fertile ground there. It is...

The NFL's chief medical officer says it is "really important" for the league and the NFL Players Association to determine whether marijuana can be used as an effective and safe pain-management tool for players. "I think we have a lot more to learn about that," Allen Sills, a Vanderbilt...

The Washington Post reported on Monday that the NFL has offered to study marijuana's potential for pain management in a partnership with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), the most significant step the league has taken toward allowing players to use the banned substance. The NFLPA has yet to...

The NFL has made a clear indication that it may be willing to work with the NFL Players Association to study the use of marijuana as pain management, a source has confirmed to ESPN. The league wrote a letter to the NFLPA, offering to work with it to study the potential use by players as a...

This Bud's for you. But not that bud. That's the message from the NFL, which continues to stonewall efforts to make medical marijuana legal for its players while swimming in beer sponsorship money. It's OK to drink yourself silly, fellas. And pop pills to your heart's content. But don't mess...

A fifth of NBA teams – Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Lakers, Celtics, Warriors, Kings and Celtics – play in a state with legalized recreational marijuana. Many more play in a state that allows medical marijuana. And it’s trending toward more teams playing in places that permit marijuana. Yet, the NBA...

There are so many pot smokers in the NFL that ESPN.com has an "All-Weed" team listed on its website. It's an open secret that players can smoke weed as long as they pass the preseason drug test. The hypocrisy of the NFL handing out Percocet and Oxycontin like candy while suspending players for...

The one-year suspension of Ravens tight end Darren Waller for a substance-abuse violation raised several red flags, which is not a surprise. Red flags about Waller, of course, and about the Ravens, who, according to an ESPN.com account, have had the most players suspended for various drug...

The NFL Players Association is looking beyond its immediate membership in shaping a proposal to revamp the league's marijuana ban. As part of its upcoming effort to sway the NFL to make more changes to its substances-of-abuse policy, union executive George Atallah said the NFLPA wants to work...

Ricky Williams, the former Miami Dolphins running back whose career and reputation were tarnished by marijuana use, is now a national spokesman for cannabis use. After spending years as the punch line for pothead jokes, Williams will be a keynote speaker at the Southeast Cannabis Conference...

Eben Britton, a former NFL offensive lineman and now staunch advocate for marijuana allowance in the league, had heard similar comments in the past but hoped the league and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, had changed its view on marijuana. "You're ingesting smoke, so that's not usually a...