Contributor: Kc Scannell
The life of a professional athlete can be pretty rocky sometimes. Though they’ve dedicated their lives to a certain sport, and subjected their bodies to constant punishment in hopes of glory, they still find themselves as the topic of ridicule from fans and analysts throughout their career.
Not many people take that constant criticism and judgment into account when talking about the lifestyle of a pro athlete. It’s not all glitz, glamour, fame, and fortune with these skilled human beings. More often than not, they are the punchline or punching bag for these die-hards who claim to know everything there is to know about their sport.
People Are Going Crazy Over This Former NFL Star’s New Line Of Marijuana Products
But, if these armchair analysts ever risked their well-being and dedicated their lives to a career in sports, like these athletes have bravely chosen to do, I doubt they’d be so quick to cast aspersions onto others.
When discussing the laundry list of athletes who have been unjustly shunned from society, one player tends to always come to mind. And that player, ladies and gentlemen, is none other than the prestigious former NFL running back, Ricky Williams.
To all you youngsters out there, that name may not be ringing any bells, per se. But if you’re over the age of 30, chances are you know who I’m talking about.
Ricky Williams was a stand-out running back in college. The dude was untouchable. Not only was the guy quicker than anyone on the field, his strength and tenacity for dipping between tackles was next-level. In short, if you wanted to bring the guy down, you couldn’t. He was a machine, and it made sense that damn near every team in the league wanted him on their squad when the draft came around.
Sure enough, right after he hung up his college cleats, Ricky made his way to the NFL. As soon as he got there, he became a household name. Every week millions of football fans would tune in to see Ricky completely plow through defensive linemen with the greatest of ease. What everyone deemed as unbeatable in his college days, only seemed to increase with each game he played in the NFL.
However, things then took a turn – but they didn’t have to.
Which, I understand, is incredibly vague, so allow me to elaborate a bit.
While playing for the Miami Dolphins, Ricky failed a drug test. Now, in the NFL, failing a drug test is a fairly common occurrence. They conduct these tests completely at random (or, at least that’s what they claim), and typically, the players who fail these impromptu drug tests are found to have been using illegal performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, HGH, and things of this nature. Also, there are always a handful of cases, every now and then, that reveal certain players have addictions to hardcore drugs, like cocaine or meth.
But Ricky’s drug test didn’t reveal any of those aforementioned routine results. Instead, the only thing they found in his drug test was traces of marijuana. That’s it. Obviously, marijuana isn’t a “performance-enhancing” drug. It wasn’t going to make him stronger or faster, but it would help his anxiety, in addition to relieving him of some of the chronic pain that he was feeling. Also, cannabis isn’t physically addictive, it’s a mere medicinal supplement that he was partaking in for purely therapeutic reasons.
However, despite the lengthy list of reasons why marijuana is harmless, and nowhere near as dangerous as those other substances players were usually caught for, the NFL severely frowned upon this, and felt like they had to suspend him for violating their drug policy.
And with that, the first step towards Ricky’s exit from the spotlight began.
Over and over again, Ricky kept failing these drug tests. And, yes, it was always for cannabis. He was obviously using this medicine to help him live a more comfortable, less stressful life, but the league offices just weren’t having any of it.
It soon became quite clear that the NFL was targeting Ricky during all of their “random” drug screenings, and he continually failed. After a while, Ricky was done with the constant tests and judgment, so he hightailed his way up to Canada to play for the Toronto Argonauts.
Even though his time in the CFL was short-lived, Ricky was back in control of his destiny, his career. This is always a good outcome. One thing has remained constant throughout this whole ordeal- his unwavering appreciation for cannabis and its various benefits. So, it only made sense for him to enter the cannabis industry. Which is exactly what this former NFL superstar has chosen to do.
His brand, Real Wellness, inspired by his initials (R.W.), is a line of cannabis-infused products focused on helping the consumer find some much-needed pain relief and comfort. The line of items will feature six specific products in total.
Real Wellness will feature items such as THC and CBD topicals, vapes, and tonics. Currently, these elegantly designed packages of marijuana greatness can only be found in the Southern California market, but Ricky and his team plan on expanding their reach into other states. They just need to find the right manufacturing partners.
Recently, Ricky was asked to extrapolate on his feelings towards Real Wellness. To which, the retired superstar said, “I am known as a professional football player. In the last 14 years, I have been educating myself and training as a healthcare practitioner.” And he’s not just blowing smoke, either. He’s telling the truth. Ricky’s been hard at work, learning as much as he can. He even took some time to read up and educate himself on various forms of Chinese medicine as well. The guy knows what he’s talking about.
He’s not just an ex-player looking to slap his name on a box, in hopes of keeping that endorsement money flowing. He wants to help people feel better through the powers of cannabis, and you can’t help but respect a guy like that, in my opinion.
But he’s not the only former football player to handle their post-playing career in such a way.
Superstars like Rob Gronkowski and Joe Montana (amongst others) have also invested a lot of their time and money into marijuana companies. Each of those fellas has a wealth of experience with using THC, and THC-related products to help their aching bodies find some relief. Joe admitted that he relies on cannabis to help with chronic pain, and Gronkowski swears by the healing powers of CBD.
It makes sense that these modern-day warriors depend on cannabis for pain relief. They, more than the average athlete, have their bodies put to the physical test week in and week out. Hopefully, this will not only encourage other former athletes to join forces with them in the cannabis industry, but perhaps, the league offices will start to see how beneficial cannabis is during the healing process. Maybe then, they’d actually decide to rework their misguided, outdated, and completely asinine drug policy, in regards to marijuana.
Nobody should be penalized for partaking in a natural herb that helps their body and mind find some comfort and peace. It’s becoming more accepted in society, and professional sports shouldn’t be any different. But, seeing as how these front office folks are some of the most stubborn people in the world, who knows if anything will ever change.
I suppose only time will tell.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed, though.
