Every year across sports, players get disciplined for doing drugs, whether they be recreational or performance-enhancing. What is different about this season, however, is that we are seeing players completely abandon their teams due to their inability to control their use of drugs.
This year we have seen two of the top up-and-coming players in the NFL, Aldon Smith and Justin Blackmon, take indefinite leaves of absence from their teams in order to enter rehabilitation facilities to treat their drug and alcohol use. Smith is on his way to becoming one of the premier pass rushers in the league, and Blackmon may be the most talented receiver in the league under the age of 25. Now the football world watches with baited breath to see if they can overcome their inner demons of addiction and abuse to come back to the playing field.
Smith took his leave after getting his second DUI since leaving the University of Missouri for the NFL. This is incredibly troubling, not just on the basis that he was a repeat offender of drinking and driving, but that no one in the locker room was keeping him in check. His team, the San Francisco 49ers, is full of veteran leaders who should have been able to spot and correct Smith’s actions before they got the point that they did.
Blackmon is a more interesting case, as he has been suspended by the league indefinitely for repeatedly failing drug tests, while Smith hadn’t failed any. In addition, Blackmon, as a member of the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, didn’t have the locker room stability that Smith had. The Jaguars are a bad young team without much guidance for a struggling yet immensely talented young player.
Both of these incidents suggest that NFL teams should have more support for players dealing with personal issues. The team pays for much of the time that doctors and staffers see players, and much of what players say can get reported back to the team. Teams need to be more well-equipped to help struggling athletes, and frankly it is surprising that things like this don’t occur more often.
Looking at the situation that many of these players are in: between the ages of 21 and 25, making hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars, and with little knowledge of what to do in their free time, it doesn’t seem like any surprise to me that a lot of people get into trouble with alcohol and other risky practices. That is why having a good locker room environment is such an important facet of the game.
Being able to keep young players focused on the game, and not where the party is afterwards, is the key to creating contending teams. Of course players are entitled to live their lives outside of football, but having the support system around them that cultivates a culture of treating football like a job and not a game –– because that is all football is to many of these players –– is crucial to success.
The mental health and safety of football players should be the first thing in regards to what coaches and teammates look for in someone who may be having a hard time, and using football to do so is a win-win situation for these teams.
