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In a way, maybe it was bad for Mike Goodson to sign with the Jets.
And this has nothing to do with the Jets’ organization.
What do I mean by this?
He was born in Irvington, NJ, a very dangerous town nine miles from Jets camp. It’s essentially a Newark suburb. I hate to say it, but the town is bad news.
As a kid he moved to Texas, but he still has roots in New Jersey.
So by coming back to the area, there are plenty of people, from his past, some perhaps with bad intentions, who can come into his life.
He spent four years at the beginning of his career in Charlotte with the Carolina Panthers, and I’m not aware of him having any problems during his time. And then a year out in Oakland, and he seemed to behave well out there.
His father, who is currently in jail for mortgage fraud, is a Jersey guy. He was a very good point guard for the University of Pittsburgh in the late 80’s.
So perhaps coming back to the New Jersey-area was a bad idea for Goodson.
Goodson was arrested this morning, along with a friend, in Denville N.J., and charged with marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and weapons offenses stemming from a 45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, that included a hollow-point bullet.
If it turns out that Goodson’s friend owned the gun, and this comes down to a pot charge for Mike, should the Jets keep him?
I’m not condoning pot possession (though there are states like Colorado and Washington where it’s legal), but if this is a marijuana charge, perhaps they should give him a second chance and try to get him help.
I’m telling you, there is a pot epidemic in the NFL and NBA.
When Lomas Brown said a year ago (to the day) that 50 percent of the NFL smokes pot, I believed him.
Think about, three Jets ran into trouble with the law recently, Goodson, Claude Davis and Cliff Harris and all three cases involved pot possession.
Santonio Holmes has two strikes in the NFL substance program due to marijuana.
Shaun Ellis had a pot charge the first year the Jets were in Florham Park
I’m telling you, a lot of guys are smoking pot in the NFL.
How do they get away with it?
Simple, the NFL does a drug test at the start of training camp. You can essentially smoke year round, as long as you stop long enough before that test to get it out of your system.
So perhaps a myriad of players smoke from September to June, and stop a month before camp.
Once you get a strike, obviously you are tested all the time, so you have to stop (or get suspended for a likely failed test).
But if you’ve never had strike, you can smoke throughout the year, you can probably smoke most of the year.
I’ve never smoked pot in my life, but I know a number of people who do, who are considered upstanding citizens.
It’s an epidemic, not just in sports, but in our country.
I was speaking to a recent college graduate, who told me he thought 90 percent of his school smoked pot.
I’m not sitting here promoting pot smoking, not at all.
But I guess I feel bad for some of these players who get caught doing something that so many people around the country are doing, but perhaps are using more discretion.
As you all know, I hate double-standards, so the idea that these players are getting in so much trouble for doing something that lawyers, actors, singers are doing every day, and doing a better job of keeping it clandestine, I have a slight problem with.
We will see what happens to Goodson.
But if it turns out the gun wasn’t his, and this is a pot possession change, I hope the Jets keep him and get him help.
May 17, 2013
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