How One NFL Star Smoked Weed and Passed Drug Tests

Days after announcing his retirement, ex-defensive end Chris Long is opening up about how he was able to cope with playing in the NFL for 11 seasons.

During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, 34-year-old Long said he enjoyed his “fair share” of marijuana on “a regular basis” during his playing career.

For Long, marijuana was more of a stress reliever than a painkiller. “If not for that, I’m not as capable of coping with the stresses of day-to-day the NFL life,” he said.

Long also said the NFL’s drug test is easy to beat because it happens once a year at a pre-set date. To beat it, all a player has to do is stop using drugs for a month or two beforehand. After the test is over, marijuana use can resume.

“In that month or two that you stop, you’re going to reach for the sleeping pills, you’re going to reach for the pain-killers and you’re going to reach for the bottle a little bit more,” Long said. “If you’re serious about players not using, you’d be testing more often. I hope they go the opposite direction and just kind of realize how arbitrary that one test is.”

The timing of Long’s admission is more noteworthy as the NFL and NFLPA announced earlier this week they are planning to start studying marijuana as a pain-management tool for players.

“We’re asking our pain management committee to bring us any and all suggestions,” said league chief medical officer Allen Sills. “We’ll look at marijuana.”

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