One of the most influential families in the NFL is ready to lead the charge with convincing the league to rethink its current marijuana policy.
Earlier this week, Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones spoke on behalf of himself and his father Jerry in calling for the NFL to consider changing its stance on marijuana use.
“Well, our system, our testing, has been in place for years and not unlike we do in our organization … we always look to see how we can do it better,” Jones told PFT Live. “I think Jerry’s opinion, my opinion, is this program, this system has been in place for a long time. I think it needs to be heavily scrutinized in terms of its results.”
Those are some pretty strong words from Jones, especially when no other owners have been willing to discuss a desire for change. As David Moore of the Dallas Morning News notes, Jerry Jones is too smart of a business man to attach his name to such a hot-bed issue if he did not receive support from many of his fellow owners.
“I think personally, I know Jerry and I think that it could be done better and we just need to take a look at it,” Stephen Jones added. “Like I said, it’s been the same program that’s been in place for many, many years and I think all things to do with the NFL, we should all want the very best for our players. We should want the very best for our organizations and we should want the very best for our fans, and that’s anything that has to do with the NFL.”
Jones said he doesn’t have the answers for how to tweak the marijuana policy, but he obviously feels it is outdated. A lot of that has to do with the way laws have changed outside of the league.
“At the end of the day our goal should be to help players who have sicknesses and addictions and make them better people off the field, and then how we go about that I think is what needs to be looked at and make sure we’re doing everything the best way we can do it,” Jones said. “Obviously, when you look at something like that you have to look at, ‘How do we do it in society right now? How does that affect the way a player sees his situation in that lens?’ And then make decisions based on that.”
If the marijuana policy was more lenient, you have to wonder if the careers of guys like this star wide receiver would have turned out differently. Roger Goodell recently indicated he wants to continue handing out harsh punishments for weed use, but the comments from the Jones family indicate many of the league’s owners aren’t on board with that.
