Chris Long Acknowledges Heavy Use of Marijuana During NFL Career

Chris Long, who is a back-to-back Super Bowl champion and recipient of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for 2018, recently admitted on the Dan Patrick Show to heavily using marijuana “on a regular basis” during his NFL career.

“I certainly enjoyed my fair share on a regular basis through my career,” Long said. “If not for that , I’m not as capable of coping with the stresses of….the NFL life.”

“It is far less harmful than alcohol. It is far less harmful than tobacco. And at various points in the league’s history, they have engaged in partneshipson different levels in those respective industries,” he said. “We should be headed to a place where we allow players to use what I wouldn’t even call drugs. It;s far less dangerous than players guzzling a fifth of alcohol and going out after a game.”

Long, who is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame member Howie Long and older brother of football player Kyle Long, went on to explain just how easy it was to avoid detection by the league.

“In that month of tow that you stop, you’re going to reach for the sleeping pills, you’re going to reach for the painkillers and you’re going to reach for the bottle a little bit more,” he said. “If you’re serious about players not using, you’d be testing more often. I hope they go the opposite direction and just kind of realize how arbitrary that on test it.”

Long, who was selected by the St. Louis Rams as the second overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, holds the distinction of being just the second son of a Hall of Famer to be drafted in the first round. Some of the main highlights from long’s rather impressive career include:

• 2x Super Bowl champion (LI, LII)
• Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (2018)
• NFL Alumni LIneman of the Year (2011)
• PFWA All-Rookie Team (2008)
• Ted Hendricks Award (2007)
• Dudley Award (2007)
• ACC Defensive Player of the Year (2007)
• Unanimous All-American (2007)
• First-team All-ACC (2007)

Long married Megan O’Malley in Charlottesville, Virginia on June 22, 2013. They welcomed their first child, James Long, on March 2, 2016 and their second son, Luke Long on November 26, 2018.