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RealFootBall365: Social organization decries Faulk suspension |
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Written by Os Davis
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Friday, 05 September 2008 |
Appealing to Goodell todayOn behalf of the suspended Kevin Faulk, national marijuana policy reform organization SAFER will today appeal to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell by means of online petition and official letter for changes to the league's marijuana policy.
Commentary: Faulk will be sitting out the New England Patriots’
opener against the Kansas City Chiefs and docked two games’ pay
(estimated at about $300,000) because of a suspension handed down in
late August. The Patriot was busted at the Lafayette, La., Cajundome
while attending a Lil’ Wayne concert on a misdemeanor possession charge
when a search turned up four “marijuana cigarettes.” Faulk pleaded no
contest, maintaining that the blunts came from the owner of the jacket;
in fact, Faulk took and passed a drug test within days after the
arrest. In July, Faulk was given a five-month suspended sentence, one
year of probation, 40 hours of community service, and 20 hours of
“NFL-approved substance-abuse treatment.”
Some may recall Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation as the
organization which first kinda sorta appeared on the fringes of NFL
football consciousness back in October of last year; then, executive
director Mason Tvert gained SAFER a bit of national publicity with a Denver Bronco-orange billboard just outside Invesco Field in appealing to the hometown to pick up beleaguered Ricky Williams.
Since then, the NFL’s marijuana policy has been something of a pet
project for 26-year-old Tvert and SAFER, alongside various work the
group does with issues related to medical marijuana and general
decriminalization. As SAFER sees it, the heart of the issue lies in the
fairly obvious hypocrisy exhibited by the NFL: “The NFL has no problem
with players using alcohol and it accepts hundreds of millions of
dollars to promote booze to football fans of all ages," said SAFER
executive director Mason Tvert. "Yet the league punishes those players
who make the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol to relax
and recreate. The NFL is driving its players to drink."
Tvert adds that “It is a mystery why Commissioner Goodell and the NFL
would want to steer the biggest, toughest guys in the country away from
using marijuana and toward using alcohol, which contributes to
aggressive behavior and countless violent crimes."
A representative from the organization is scheduled to hand-deliver
SAFER’s letter of protest to Goodell’s office in New York at 11 a.m.
local time on Friday, and the online petition will remain active.
Fan pulse: Most football fans, Pat backers or no, seem to be lamenting the silliness of Faulk’s arrest and subsequent suspension
for such a minuscule offense. Though key to the Patriot offense (hey,
he’s been scoring TDs in New England since the first Super Bowl win),
Faulk is hardly an every-down player and so the issue is not reaching
the levels of outrage that might benefit SAFER and greater society.
Also, by the way, Bill Belichick knew this would happen all along...
Fantasy football impact: Those with Laurence Maroney, already
hoping for a career year from the dreadlocked one, will benefit from
the league’s arcane policy; in Faulk’s absence, Maroney could see five
to 10 more carries and seems the best bet outside of Randy Moss to put
up a TD for the Patriots. |
