Former NFL players from the league’s history have joined forces in a public service announcement to call out the hypocrisy and backwards policies regarding athletes using medical marijuana.
Included among the players is Ricky Williams, Jim McMahon, Mark Restelli, Chris Kluwe, Eben Britton, Kyle Turley, and Boo Williams. The PSA cuts between the players stating snippets of their overall message, demonstrating their unity in delivery and thought.
“The men who play American football are subject to a life of injury, pain, and disease both during and long after their careers are over,” they collectively say.
“That’s why I smoke cannabis,” each of them says.
The only problem with the PSA—it isn’t technically real. It’s a fictitious advertisement meant to serve within the Netflix sitcom Disjointed, which tells the story of a Los Angeles dispensary woman owner and her loose collective of associates. The show is known for devising false ads to break up an episode and further expand the universe of the show.
It’s interesting, however, because it doubly services as an actual PSA for the real-life Gridiron Cannabis Coalition. The group’s message still spreads with a raised profile thanks to its attachment to a Netflix-produced show, regardless of its inception.
For some reason the major North American, non-Canadian football league refuses to allow players to use cannabis. Instead of allowing for safe, natural healing, the sport pushes players to addictive narcotic painkillers with serious side effects. So “let’s get real, Roger,” the GCC says, referencing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“Football players should be allowed to use medicinal marijuana without the stigma of it being a banned substance. Cannabis isn’t a drug, it is a medicine.”
Thanks to Disjointed and Netflix, that message has now been heard.
