Jacksonville Jaguar wide receiver Justin Blackmon is at it again. He was arrested in Edmond, Oklahoma just as Jaguar camp is beginning to open. Blackmon, the number five overall pick in the 2012 and a NFL draft, was already suspended indefinitely by the league after his second violation last season. Police say that he admitted to smoking a blunt and having another one on him in the vehicle. Blackmon was booked and released on $657 bond.
After hearing the news and a bit off guard, just a day after learning Jags wide receiver Ace Sanders would be suspended for four games for marijuana as well, head coach Gus Bradley had this to say: ''We haven't discussed that at this point. Really, our focus has been on the team that's here right now. I'm just praying that he gets right."
There is a good chance that Blackmon's career is over. He'll be gone at least all of 2014 and will have some hoops to jump through before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell allows him back into the league. A substance abuse program would begin the process. Even, if he is allowed back in, he'll never receive the money he could have. When on the field, Justin Blackmon was one of the league's best.
There is a bit of absurdity to Blackman getting in to trouble with marijuana three times in about a calendar year. There's also the ridiculous NFL's policies. A drug that is now legal in many states across America is costing many athletes a lot of money. Meanwhile, today the NFL also announced that Baltimore Ravens' running back Ray Rice, who is on video assaulting his fiancée, will only receive a two game suspension. Each reader can draw their own conclusions, but this news have many irate, and deservedly so.
These athletes are given a lot of money at an early age, and make huge mistakes. Whether one agrees with the NFL drug policies or not the players must comply. It just seems that harsher penalties should be handed down on domestic violence. These issues, when ignored, can lead to even worse domestic terror. It wasn't too long ago, cameras were chasing an ex-NFL running back in his white Ford-Bronco.
Michael Sam has to wonder why the world views him, being the first American openly-gay male athlete in a major sport, as an unwanted media distraction.