Player Quits NFL, Makes His Point About Pot

Former Cowboy David Irving appears to smoke a joint while criticizing league's drug policy
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 8, 2019 2:05 PM CST
Player Quits NFL, Makes His Point About Pot
Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle David Irving kneels to the side and watches teammates during NFL football minicamp Wednesday, June 13, 2018, in Frisco, Texas.   (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

"Don’t get me wrong, I love football," recent Dallas Cowboy David Irving said Thursday on Instagram Live. "However, I don’t love the NFL." With that, the 25-year-old announced his retirement from the league, the Star-Telegram reports. Irving, who was indefinitely suspended last week for violating the NFL's drug policy, put an exclamation point on his announcement by appearing to smoke marijuana in his video (note: language). He wants the league to permit pot use by players, and has criticized the league policy on opioids, as well.

"I have Xanax bars and hydros right next to me to take—given to me by the NFL, of course," he said on the video, per Sports Illustrated. "However, we can't smoke the same weed the staff itself smokes." Irving doesn't have an NFL job at the moment anyway; he's a free agent, and the Cowboys didn't plan to re-sign him. He had previously been suspended for the first four games of the 2017 and 2018 seasons over the league's drug policy, and he played just two games for the Cowboys last season. (More David Irving stories.)

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