• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Few stories are as compelling as those of Marvin Washington in the ever-evolving intersection of sports and health. The retired NFL defensive end, known for his Super Bowl victory and a career spanning eleven seasons with teams like the New York Jets and Denver Broncos, is now a powerful advocate for the benefits of cannabis. Washington’s journey from the gridiron to the forefront of cannabis education highlights his commitment to sports cannabis.

Marvin Washington’s illustrious football career might have ended, but his impact continues in a new arena.

I think that sometimes in life, and in the creator’s providence it’s kind of destined as to what you do. I was 6’6, 250 coming out of college, and with my degree, I didn’t have IBM or anybody else knocking on my door. With my size, I played football and it’s everybody’s dream to play at the ultimate level… I had one good year of football and that gave me the opportunity to pursue it on the next level… and I did. I feel very humble and very blessed to be able to play 11 years as well as win the Super Bowl. Now, being able to use that platform, being an ex professional athlete, I’ve tried to help people and it’s been a wonderful experience… I’m blessed to be where I’m at now, and if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Washington’s commitment to athlete health is evident in his critique of traditional pain management approaches. He reflects on the reliance on opioids and other pharmaceuticals in football, stating, “The saying is ‘you can play injured but you can’t play hurt…’ And if you’re taking football, which is not a contact sport, but a collision sport of guys running into each other at 25 to 35 miles an hour, you’re going to get hurt… So the best ability that you have is availability. They want you to be available for practices and games over a 16 or 17 week season, and you’re going to get banged up. The thing with the NFL and even college football is that they introduce pain management with their medicine which is, the opioids, benzodiazepines and anti-inflammatories. The first thing prescribed at a lower level are the anti-inflammatories. Then you’re going to step it up a little bit with some pain blockers and prescription pain pills. Then if you’re having anxiety, trouble sleeping or anything you’re going through, there’s benzodiazepines. These are the things that I want to get away from, I want there to be a natural alternative, because when I played, we called it ‘the Dark Ages,’ and when we do look back at it, we will realize it was the dark ages because we didn’t have any natural alternatives… I’m not trying to kill football, I’m trying to make it safer, and I want the former players, there’s 20,000 former players, I want them to have a quality of life, because former players are four times more likely to abuse opioids in general society.

Washington’s exploration into cannabis began in earnest around 2013-2014. He recalls,

It was once I got involved in the community. At first, I didn’t know anything about CBD, THC or anything until 2013’14. Around that time period, I was approached by a company to become a brand ambassador, which provided me an opportunity to educate myself and take a deep dive into cannabis and the science behind it. My aha moment was when I learned about patent 6630507 that the NIH holds. Which says CBD is a neuroprotective antioxidant for the brain, in relation to concussions. That’s when it became like ah, they know about this, and let’s try to do this. Many people don’t know there is over 10,000 peer-reviewed papers written about medicinal cannabis, CBD and THC. Once I found out what it can do for the body and what it can do as a neuroprotector, and learning about how it can help with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), I dove all in.

Washington’s advocacy extends beyond mere personal experience. He stresses the importance of responsible cannabis use and education:

The biggest thing is, at times, we get caught up in the community, and we’re preaching to the choir… If we ever want to normalize this and get this into the mainstream, we have to start talking about it in a responsible way. One of the things that I try to tell the cannabis community, is that you can’t be on your social media, your IG or Twitter account, doing a big bong or dab hit and talking about waking and baking, that’s negative, and does an injustice to talking about cannabis medicine responsibly.

As Washington envisions a future where cannabis becomes a standard part of athletic health management, he sees three main pillars for his movement:

I always say that I’m a three-legged stool, my movement involves athletes, because that’s my former community, it involves people of the lower majority, which are African Americans in this country, and the third part to my movement is being an entrepreneur and pushing cannabis forward. I always say that Oregon and Colorado went off in 2012, which was ten years ago, which to me was similar to the Ford releasing the Model T. We’re about to get to the next phase, and as an entrepreneur, I want to push cannabis forward.

Marvin Washington’s transition from NFL legend to cannabis advocate is a testament to his dedication to improving the lives of athletes through natural alternatives. His efforts highlight the urgent need to shift how we approach pain management in sports. For readers interested in exploring more about the evolving role of cannabis in sports, stay tuned to the latest updates and advancements in Sports Cannabis News. Washington’s story is a compelling example of how personal experience and advocacy can drive meaningful change in athletic health care.