Would Probably Do Them Good !!

Roger Goodell open to players using medical marijuana for concussion issues

 

By Frank Schwab7 hours agoShutdown Corner

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(USA Today Sports Images)

Never before has marijuana and football been so intertwined than this week, and presumably next week as well.

Though we've yet to settle on a proper name for the Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, the teams from the only states where recreational marijuana is legal ("Bud Bowl" or "Smoke-A-Bowl" among the many possibilities), NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said something that might eventually literally intertwine the two subjects.

Goodell said, according to Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal, that he would consider letting NFL players use medical marijuana for concussion issues.

Goodell says if medical experts ever say medical marijuna would help with concussions then would consider allowing it.

— daniel kaplan (@dkaplanSBJ) January 23, 2014

Now that's one way to get players to quit trying to hide that they've suffered a concussion.

Goodell said this during a panel to announce a brain-research grant, SI.com reported. The NFL and GE announced 16 winners of a $300,000 award to help their research to "speed diagnosis and improve treatment for mild traumatic brain injury."

There has been at least some thought that medical marijuana helps with some of the post-concussion symptoms such as depression and nausea, although one would presume the typically conservative NFL would need rock-solid evidence that marijuana could help players deal with concussions. The concussion problem is probably the biggest issue the league faces right now.

Marijuana use is currently banned in the NFL. It's interesting that Goodell would even entertain the possibility of allowing it at all.