Following a strong showing at the NFL combine, Boston College's B.J. Raji emerged as the top defensive lineman in the upcoming NFL Draft. Most prognosticators had Raji going among the top six picks at the end of the month and becoming an instant millionaire. But this past week week it was reported that Raji failed his drug test at the combine. While it was not released which drug he tested positive for, does it really matter? Even if it was a relatively harmless drug like marijuana, how stupid does somebody need to be to use a drug with a known drug test on the horizon? If this is true it speaks as much to Raji's drug use as it does to his intelligence level. With such an incredible opportunity in front of him, one millions of people would love the chance to have, the 6'1 323-pound lineman didn't just fail to take advantage of it, he completely screwed it up. I don't know what annoys me more, that somebody could sabotage themselves with stupidity and cost themselves millions, or that somebody dumb enough to do this will still end up making millions anyway.
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Gil Brant of the Cowboys said "It's unfortunate for him". I couldn't disagree more. "Unfortunate" to me is when something bad happens that is completely out of a person's control. This was completely IN his control. My sympathy level is zero and this went from being a good story about a Boston product heading to the pros to one of an idiot spitting in the face of opportunity.
Haha. Tell us what you really think. He is only 6'1" 323? That seems a bit small for a lineman (not the 323 part).
It seems there seems to be a double-standard for D-lineman. When Warren Sapp got busted for grass, no one seemed to care, his pick slipped a few spots, which is what is supposed to happen to this guy.
Ricky Williams, among others, have gotten their character's annihilated or at least a good deal of scorn (Williams much more so because of his seeming to turn his back on the NFL or not make it out to be the dream that it, like all sports, are perceived to be). However, with lineman, they seem to take the greater [outside the NFL] opinion that it is just a minor drug, not far different from ethanol. Maybe cause they are just happy he (or Sapp) is not Christian Peter. I do find it an interesting double standard.
Ricky Williams is actually not a great example because he took things to too much of an extreme...they guy retired basically just because he wanted to smoke pot and not worry about it.
Personally, as stated, the stupidity it to smoke pot with a drug test on the horizon is a much bigger issue than simply smoking pot.
I think the Warren Sapp situation that you mentioned will actually help Raji if it was marijuana he tested positive for.
In the 1995 NFL Draft Warren Sapp was considered a possible #1 overall pick, but rumors of a failed drug test for marijuana sent his stock plummeting on draft day and he ended up going #12 overall.
Out of the 11 teams that passed on Sapp in '95, how many would do the same thing again today?
01.CIN:Ki-Jana Carter, RB Penn State
02.JAX:Tony Bosell, OT USC
03.HOU:Steve McNair, QB Alcorn State
04.WSH:Michael Westbrook, WR Colorado
05.CAR:Kerry Collins, QB Penn State
06.STL:Kevin Carter, DE Florida
07.PHI:Mike Mamula, DE BC
08.SEA:Joey Galloway, WR Ohio State
09.NYJ:Kyle Brady, TE Penn State
10.SF :JJ Stokes, WR UCLA
11.MIN:Derrick Alexander, DT Florda State
12.TB :Warren Sapp, DT Miami
Sidenote: Most likely Hall of Fame player to come out of the Class of '95? Adam Vinatieri, the undrafted kicker out of South Dakota State that signed on with the Pats.
Williams was a poor example, but I stand by my point, Defensive lineman get less trouble for infractions than other players.
In Williams case, I do think, in fact pretty sure that the League was much more upset about losing a "key" player and were not concerned about the effects of the minor drug on his body. They were worried about the perception of someone (a star) walking away from an NFL career near the prime of it. Though Ricky continues his pursuit of "alternative healing," (I know cause I saw an interview with him this week) which is actually what he left for, not just to smoke weed.
There are others though, I guess Henry (who I think now is a repeat offender) and others...
I guess what really bothers me is seeing guys like Stephan A. Smith go off on Josh Howard (who also said some stupid things) about implicating other players in league (when Howard said something like "tons of guys smoke in the NBA") and other Sportcenter booth guys always are making such condemnation of it as an offense. You know Stephan A. is toking up with these players in the off season. Those Sportscenter guys skank themselves into the mainstream with their glued to pop culture references, and their reliance on music that often promotes the usage of what they, in this scenario are condemning.
Poorly articulated point but it bothers me.
Raji's stupidity is undeniable based on this action.
I still think he will go in the high double digits in the draft, or higher.
It is easy, but not the same to go back and look at a Draft like that in any sport, there are years in the NBA like that, and see how horrible it was. That Penn State team was mean though. To know at that point that neither Kerry Collins, nor Carter would be good, nevermind great stars in the league, would be a bold prophecy.
Some of those guys were strong role players too (K. Brady, J. Galloway, McNair-great, though injury prone). It just isn't all that easy to see whether a draft class, it is hard enough to see whether a player, is good or not unless it is glaring* (like last year's NBA draft, or the LeBron, Melo draft).
*(Also the draft year of Vince, Pierce, and Dirk as well as the year of Iverson, Kobe, Camby, Peja, Marbury etc. were obvious to be star-studded)
My point in showing the Sapp draft was simply to illustrate that, in hindsight, many of these teams that passed on him simply because of the drug rumors made a mistake.
Also, Sapp failed a test while in college (which Raji did as well)...but he didn't fail at the combine. The stupidity of that just overwhelms me.
The problem with guys like Chris Henry, Josh Howard, etc is that they are idiots whether or not they smoke weed, so they clearly do not help themselves by adding onto it.
* I was actually referring to Travis Henry. haha
(though he may've been busted for cocaine)
I hear you, and I am certainly not advocating it for them or anyone but more the discrepancy of stances on it within one organization, be it ESPN, or the NFL or whatever (NBA etc.) is what has my focus.
I did mean to mention in the last one how Charles Oakley said a similar quote about the NBA, putting a percentage on it (and a high one), and he wasn't given any guff about it at all. If not taken as a joke, it was immediately a discussion about the NBA and it was bypassed who was bringing the information to light (in this case Charles Oakley).
Apparently there may be no truth to this article at all.
have some inside info luke?
Not really. Sportscenter yesterday (whom I originally heard the reports of the failed drug test from) said that the original "2 web reports" saying the test was failed may be unfounded and apparently Raji is very vocally arguing this. (Enough so to get Sportscenter to sort of take back the story, or at least put most of it on the web reports it cited).
I'm glad the part about the drug test at the combine is false. Even though he apparently tested positive at school (and was ineligible for 2007) I feel much better about Raji moving forward.
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