DL/OLB - Shane Ray - Missouri | Page 8

Originally posted by Quest4six:

Originally posted by philosoraptor:

Originally posted by TexasNiner:
Fair enough. But again, it has nothing to do with smoking weed or it impacting his job or not. Just bad decision making.

I do understand that argument, but my whole point is why is it bad decision making? Why is him smoking weed a bad decision when front offices know a good portion of their players smoke weed already, its in the process of legalization across many states, and it does not affect his on field performance. The only reason I can understand which is to appease those in the public who have a dated view on the matter, which I find to be a hypocrisy because they'll go out and enjoy drinks and see nothing wrong with that. This guy gets demonized by the media as a bad individual, which is stupid.

Its bad decision making because it shows he values something more in his life right now than the game of football. Its a week before the draft, and you are caught doing something illegal with which you have a past occurrence of doing. Unfortunately, when you live the life on these NFL prospects, you have to literally be perfect. I don't mean perfect in terms of your football game either, I mean in you answers to their questions, your off the field habits, the food you eat, the people you hang out with, etc etc...
This guy is getting an opportunity to do something that many people out there wish they could do, and because of that he is held under a microscope. Breaking the law is breaking the law no matter how stupid or where/when its legal/illegal. The bottom line is chose to partake in an activity that is highly scrutinized by the NFL (see Josh Gordon) a week before the draft.

That right there is enough to make me have second thoughts about him

But I do agree with the bolded. I cannot stand when they make these guys seem like criminals or addicts just because they get caught with hardly and substance. I hear Ray has now enrolled in a substance abuse program, which is comical

Exactly. It's bad decision making because it IS illegal and because teams are on the lookout for it. Especially right now and especially from certain prospects, including this guy. It doesn't matter if it should or shouldn't be illegal. Or if it really benefits players due to the physical and mental strain of playing football. Dated view or not. Ridiculous policy or not. And even if theoretically the worst case scenario is that he "only" falls 5-10 spots or so, he still is costing himself tons of money. All because he can't fly right (including not smoking, or at least being smart enough to not carry and/or not get caught) the week leading up to the NFL draft.

If that doesn't scream "bad decision maker" to NFL execs, I will be shocked. This is not a referendum on pot and whether it should or shouldn't be illegal. Or whether or not it's a big deal if players smoke. It's an indictment of this particular player's choices. And raises the question of what choices he will make once your team and your dollars are on the line and are counting on him to make good choices.

If this were some random player, with no issues previously who otherwise would have been a 3rd/4th round prospect, it probably wouldn't be a huge deal. At that point, the risk is much lesser. But for a possible first rounder, let alone top 10 pick, who has supposedly dedicated himself to avoiding this stuff, to have this happen days before the draft, combined with the injury concerns would make me think very few GMs would be willing to take that gamble in the first round.

But we will see. All it takes is one.

Oh, and to the enrollment in the substance abuse program, I think it's automatic for any drug/alcohol related offense.

[ Edited by TexasNiner on Apr 28, 2015 at 6:08 PM ]