DavidIrving/Instagram
Cowboys David Irving is done with football after getting suspended indefinitely for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy multiple times.
Via NFL.com
Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving was suspended indefinitely for violating the league’s Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse, the NFL announced Friday.
This is Irving’s third suspension of his short career. The 25-year-old was banned for the first four games of the both the 2017 and 2018 seasons
Yesterday afternoon Irving posted a pic on Instagram saying that he wasn’t interested in returning to football until the NFL updated their marijuana policy.
Sounds like David Irving doesn't intend on attempting a return to the NFL until its policy on marijuana changes. pic.twitter.com/ZTSGnWqDnR
— Bobby Belt (@BobbyBeltTX) March 6, 2019
Tonight Irving went on Instagram live to blast the NFL’s weed policy and explained why he was quitting football while smoking a blunt on camera.
While smoking a blunt on Instagram live, #Cowboys DT David Irving says he’s quit on football.
“I’m not doing this sh*t no more.” pic.twitter.com/lRxtG9SjiK
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 8, 2019
David Irving on Instagram live: “Everyone questions my commitment to football, but let’s get it straight. I love football… but I don’t love the NFL. The NFL is not football.” https://t.co/zTt7hN1F5l
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 8, 2019
@JC1053 @DavidMooreDMN @rjchoppy I guess David Irving is about to call Ben Abbott and Associates. pic.twitter.com/QRcHIWKDbk
— JLee (@_jamesdotlee_) March 8, 2019
“”So basically guys, I quit,” he said. “They want to talk about a suspension and all this other nonsense. I’m outta there. I’m not doing this sh-t no more.”
“I guess the same thing that’ll make a little kid sip some liquor, or do whatever,” “The same reason an adult would choose to do it. It felt great. As a kid, it was one thing, but now that you’re older and you do what I do — you hurt.
“I got two shoulder surgeries. Everyone was mad at me about my damn injuries. Y’all know I was in a damn cast? I was on crutches? I was in a scooter?
“I go through a lot of pain. I don’t miss games unless it’s physically impossible for me to play. …Nothing helps better. …It’s much better than that opiate sh-t. …I’d rather use something natural.”
Griffin’s “retirement” comes after a report from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio about the NFL’s willingness to make “major concessions” to the marijuana policy in the next collective bargaining agreement.
Per a league source, the NFL is prepared to make major concessions regarding the substance-abuse policy, especially as it relates to marijuana.
The details of the concessions aren’t known. A complete abandonment (and implicit legalization) of marijuana is possible, but if the league goes in that direction it would need to have a procedure in place for players who are charged criminally with marijuana-related offenses in the states where marijuana continues to be banned.
A delicate balance may be required. It the law of the land becomes “smoke at will as long as you’re in a weed-legal state,” plenty of free agents will flock to teams in states where it’s legal. So maybe the best approach would be to simply dump marijuana from the list of banned recreational drugs, and move on.