When the Green Bay Packers open their regular season on Sept. 13 in Chicago, they will do it without the services of defensive end Datone Jones.
Jones, the Packers’ No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft and the 26th player selected overall, was suspended for one game by the National Football League for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
As you may have heard, Jones was booked for marijuana possession last January, on the night the Packers had returned home from their 26-20 overtime loss to Seattle in the NFC title game.
It’s likely that he wasn’t the only one in Wisconsin self-medicating after that game.
But if the report about how the bust came about is true – one of the residents in the apartment complex where he made the purchase looked out to the parking lot to see who was blaring the car radio after midnight and called police after observing what appeared to be a drug deal – he’s more guilty of stupidity than anything else. If you’re buying marijuana in one of the 48 states where it’s not legal, you might consider not drawing attention to yourself while you’re doing it.
Jones started three games last season and played in 13, with his best performance coming in the 26-21 win over Dallas in the divisional playoffs. In that game, he partially blocked a field goal attempt that would have given the Cowboys a 17-7 lead late in the first half, and recovered a fumble in the third quarter to set up a field goal that cut the Packers’ deficit to 14-13.
So, while his rookie season was regarded as a mild disappointment for a first-rounder, he did have his moments in what was at the time the Packers’ biggest game of the season.
Plus, he had the restraint to wait until after the game to catch a buzz. Not all of the consciousness-altering notables in sports history can say that.
Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates famously threw a no-hitter against San Diego 45 years ago while tripping on acid.
Gary McClain ran the point guard position for eventual 1985 national basketball champion Villanova University in its semifinal win over Memphis State – with a quarter-gram of cocaine coursing through his bloodstream.
New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle hit a home run in the 1960s while massively hung over and maybe still legally drunk, prompting him to plop down on the dugout bench and remark about the cheering crowd, “They have no idea how hard that was.”
So, Jones’ getting popped for possession doesn’t exactly put him in exclusive company. The list of professional athletes and substance abuse issues is a long one.
The NFL’s substance-abuse policy, which last year was mercifully relaxed in relation to marijuana infractions, is byzantine and condition-layered. For example, the threshold for what is considered a presence of marijuana in the blood was changed last year from 15 nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol per milliliter to 35 nanograms per milliliter. So a player may get stoned, just not too stoned.
Additionally, a player will be fined but not suspended until testing positive for marijuana a fourth time, barring any run-ins with the law. That last part is what will keep Jones from playing in the opener. The bottom line is fairly simple: If you’re a player who dabbles in herb outside of Colorado or Washington, don’t get caught.
Jones was scheduled to make $1,106, 509 this season. His one-game suspension, which like all NFL suspensions is without pay, plus the $880 fine he paid the court and whatever he gave to the dealer, means he’s out about 66 grand. That’s one pricey bag of weed. Hopefully it was good stuff.
