Former RB Ricky Williams pushing for NFL to offer players cannabis for treatment after games

In recent years, the NFL has softened its stance on marijuana usage amongst its players. Back in 2021, the league revised its testing policy where players are now tested at the start of training camp and punishments are much less severe than they were in years past. For former first-round running back and Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams, this has been a welcome sight. But he also believes the league can push beyond simply allowing players to use cannabis more freely and instead have it be a tool to help treat ailments players have.

“I think the next step, though, is at the end of a game, if we’re on the plane ride home, the trainer is walking down the aisle and has two capsule cases — one of Ambien, and the other one of Vicodin,” Williams told TMZ Sports. “And he’s walking down the aisle and saying, ‘Do you need any of this, do you need any of this?’

“And the truth is, for football players, we do need something because it hurts, and you’re all revved up and it’s hard to calm down and go to sleep. And I’d love to see cannabis as being one of those things that the trainer is walking down the aisle and offering to those players.”

Williams — who legally changed his name to Errick Miron — has advocated for the league to go in this direction for years. As a player, Williams was suspended multiple times by the league for marijuana use, including in May of 2004, which was months before he made the surprising decision to retire just days before training camp. Upon coming out of retirement in 2005, Williams was later suspended for the entire 2006 season for violating the NFL’s drug policy. He was eventually reinstated in 2007 and retired from the NFL in Feb. 2012. 

With cannabis becoming legal in more states across the country, the NFL has updated its policies, which has likely led to an increase in usage amongst players. Earlier this offseason, Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce, who had a drug-related suspension in college at Cincinnati, told Vanity Fair that he estimates anywhere from 50 to 80% of players currently use cannabis. 

It’s also worth mentioning that the NBA, in its new collective bargaining agreement with the players, removed marijuana testing entirely. With that in mind, it’s fair to wonder if the NFL is heading down a similar path.