As a Cowboys veteran and NFL Players Association representative, cornerback Brandon Carr says he often counsels young teammates about accountability.
Show up on time, he tells them. Know the playbook. And make it a priority to learn the NFL's substance abuse policies, especially in regard to marijuana use.
"We have honest discussions," Carr says. "And you caution. I just kind of give guys the deadline dates of when they're supposed to get clean, things like that."
This is not, Carr stresses, an admission that the Cowboys have a drug-dirty locker room. It's Carr's realistic appraisal that marijuana simply is part of the NFL's culture. Why wouldn't it be, he asks, given that it has become more accepted legally and socially, especially among millennials?
Do the Cowboys in particular have a pot problem? Perception-wise, yes. Factually, however, the answer is complex.
It certainly didn't help the Cowboys' image when No. 4 overall draft pick Ezekiel Elliott on Aug. 25 was photographed browsing at a Seattle weed shop, hours before a preseason game against the Seahawks.
Never mind that Elliott didn't purchase anything. Or that Seattle and Denver are NFL cities in states that have legalized the recreational use and sale of cannabis.
Without elaborating, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called 21-year-old Elliott's decision "just not good." Coach Jason Garrett said young players "just have to understand that perception can be reality."
Especially when compounded with the fact that the Cowboys franchise already was reeling from the NFL substance abuse suspensions of projected defensive starters Rolando McClain, DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory.
Though sources told The Dallas Morning News that McClain's suspension is due to a failed test for opiates and Lawrence's for amphetamines, McClain and Gregory have in the past reportedly failed marijuana tests.
NFL and NFLPA joint-appointed counselors annually visit teams to, in part, reiterate substance abuse policies, but several Cowboys told The News that the rash of suspensions prompted a late-spring, mostly marijuana-specific meeting.
"We haven't had to really talk about it in past years," running back Lance Dunbar said. "It was needed because we had guys (fail) the test."
Dunbar says it's immaterial that everyday citizens in two NFL cities are legally allowed to partake in weed.
"That's only a couple," he says. "Majority rules. It's illegal in most states. You're not supposed to do it.
"Here, it was a problem. We had a problem with it. We talked about it."
