When the infamous photo of Michael Phelps with his mouth pressed against a bong hit the internet more than three years ago, former Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder was not surprised. Crowder, who is now a mid-day host at 560 WQAM in Miami, told “The Jorge Sedano Show” he saw Phelps smoking weed no more than three weeks prior to the picture coming out. And the 18-time gold medalist was supposedly in good company.
“I was on South Beach probably three weeks before (the infamous photo came out)” Crowder explained. “Everybody knows who Young Jeezy is — he was in (the club). It was crazy because it was Young Jeezy and Michael in the next section over from us at (a nightclub). I look and I see Young Jeezy’s hanging out with a big old white guy and it was Michael Phelps.
“I shook his hand and he was blowing people off because he was drunk too, and I see him hit the blunt later on when Jeezy passed it. No lie! I don’t get star struck or impressed by many people but when I saw Young Jeezy hand Michael Phelps a blunt that was impressive to me,” Crowder said on WQAM.
For those who don’t know, Young Jeezy is a notable rapper. Jeezy and Phelps even interacted with one another during the London Olympics, so it would make sense that they have met before. Phelps wasn’t the only Olympic swimmer Crowder threw under the bus. It just so happens that Ryan Lochte attended the University of Florida at the same time as Crowder. Crowder says Lochte loved the herb as well.
“When I left Florida, Ryan Lochte was younger than me so he had to be a new freshman,” Crowder said. “And he walked around with his hippie long blond hair and he smoked weed all the time. That’s what Ryan Lochte was. The first time I saw him was in the Olympic Trials and he had the Gator (swim cap) on and I didn’t know the name Ryan Lochte — I remembered the face. And I was like, ‘Oh it’s a Gator in the Olympics.’ I looked and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s the little hippie pothead boy that was a freshman when I was there.’”
Crowder then went on to mention how swimmers only swim for four months out of every four years, so they have three years to “mess off, drink and smoke” and then get into shape very quickly. It’s not quite that simple, but Olympic athletes are young for the most part. Young kids who gain world recognition in a hurry oftentimes like to party and have a good time, so it would be naive to think Lochte and Phelps are the only two Olympic athletes who have done this type of stuff.
If anything it helps explain why Lochte makes mistakes like this one on live television and thinks annoying catchphrases are cool. If you ask me it’s kind of a relief.
Audio of Crowder story on WQAM is below:
[Audio: http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/crowder-phelphs-lochte.mp3]
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