@MikeGarafolo: Candid--& gt; RT @art_stapleton: Will Hill says his substance abuse suspension was for marijuana. He spent nearly a month at rehab clinic
I personally don't think toking is that big of a deal. It'll probably be legal in 20 years or so anyway.
That said, Hill knows they test for that & he was on a tight leash to begin with. It was stupid of him. Hopefully it won't happen again because if it does, he's certainly a goner.
A: Just going through a lot of stressful times through last season, and I failed a lot of drug tests.
Q: With the initial drug?
A: Yea. It carried over to this season. Just trying to fight it and obviously the league made the decision for this season.
Q: You were very open last year about putting your problems in the past. Is it disappointing for you to have this?
A: Yeah, it’s definitely disappointing. For us being professional athletes, you’d think the people that will have your back would really have your back. But you know, coming up in this environment out here, I had a lot of stress from my environment. That was the only way I knew how to cope with it until I got with the team. They put me in some clinic and that helped me out.
Q: This is an old incident?
A: Yea, it’s definitely old. Nothing recent.
Q: So why didn’t this come up last year?
A: We were trying to fight it, basically. The team stepped in and tried to do the best they could so this would not happen, but ultimately the league made the decision.
Q: This sounds like it’s a stressful situation. You’re not saying it was a bad test or anything.
A: No. It’s just I’ve been through so many stressful times, and growing up the way I grew up, it was just second nature. Growing up, walking down the street and people are putting guns in your face; it’s stressful. You really don’t know how to deal with situations like that when you’re faced with it.
Q: Are you concerned about your standing with the team now, having this suspension?
A: I talked to my team and they just told me to keep moving forward and keep being positive. Just take the full suspension and leave it at that. Just don’t have any more mishaps.
Q: So you think your job is safe?
A: Yea, I think I’ll be around.
Q: Is it going to be a distraction for you to have to go through training camp and preseason only to have to stop?
A: It’s going to be hard, but I wouldn’t say it’s going to be a total distraction from what I need to do for this team. I know all the plays; I just need to keep at it. I would love to be out here to help this team and to help this organization win. I just have to root from the sidelines.
Q: Could you explain to us what the stressful part of it was? Was it the NFL pressures?
A: It has nothing to do with football. It was more so family members, people reaching their hand out thinking you’re an ATM, and people thinking you owe them something. There was a situation where I visited my hometown and a guy pulled a gun out on me right in the park for some money. How do you really deal with those situations? You really can’t. I just dealt with it the best way I knew how.
Q: Did this situation come up when the Adderall came out or was it separate testing?
A: It was a different test.
Q: In some strange way, would it have been easier for you if you had not been playing here?
A: I say that to some people, but really you can’t choose where you are. It’s a blessing to be here and I know right versus wrong. The Giants helped me the best way they could. They got me help and helped me see other ways to cope with my problems.
Q: Since this is an older situation, how confident are you that it’s all behind you and it’s in your past? Do you still fight against that kind of thing?
A: I don’t fight against it at all. The Giants helped me out a lot. I wasn’t here a lot for the spring practices. I was in Boston at a clinic where they helped me. I’ve also been going to an outpatient in Parsippany. I met a lot of people there, made some friends and some therapists that are on my team now and that will help me out with situations like that.
Q: Did you stay at the clinic in Boston?
A: Yes.
Q: And that was this past off-season?
A: Yeah. I stayed for about a month.
Q: You hear about going into these things. Did you go in open minded?
A: Yes. It wasn’t forced upon me. They asked if I wanted to go and I told them yeah. I definitely wanted to get away from here, for one. Get away from the stressful situations and go out there to learn a thing or two.
Q: I’m sure you met a lot of people who have—
A: They had a lot worse issues than I had. It made me feel a lot better.
Q: What month was that?
A: I went in on Easter and came back around April 19th or 20th.
Q: It seems like your life is a lot more straightened out now. As a player, how do you feel this has impacted your development and growth? You’re still a young player and you have a lot to learn.
A: It impacted a lot because I wasn’t able to get around the team in the spring like I wanted to. But then I also had a lot of team support. They were keeping in contact with me and helping me out, especially when I got back. But it damaged a lot, because as a young player you want to get out there as much as you can and showcase as much as you can.
Q: Do you sense any difference, as far as them working with you but they know the first four games you won’t be here?
A: I definitely could take a lot more reps. Yesterday the starters had maybe 23 reps and I had about 11 reps. I see that there is a drastic change.
which doesn't even have a physically addictive component, while the average crack or heroine user has to fight like hell to get 10 days inpatient treatment. Makes sense.
not really seeing the ownership of the problem that you would like Â
nor to suggest he doesn't need a month to deal with them, and obviously the money/insurance situation is very different. But it's also frustrating to read when you spend a large part of your work week trying to convince insurance companies that the detoxing junkie who just shot himself in your office needs inpatient only to be denied.
I was in rehab with two men who were straight marijuana users. Their lives were really messed up, just the same as mine. Both of them said things along the lines of "can't do anything when smoking weed" and they couldn't deal with life without smoking it.
Let me tell you, coming off that stuff, these guys were physical wrecks. No sleep. Constant anxiety. Inability to string thoughts together. Constant mental confusion.
Weed is a drug. It can be a nasty drug, same as alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine, benzos, or opiates. Don't think weed can't totally fuck a person up. It can. I've seen it.
I felt for these guys, they were both in a world of shit.
He's providing the reason for why he uses. I mean, at the end of the day anyone who uses any substance, alcohol included, is bc they like how it makes them feel. Hill is only explaining that he made poor choices as to how to deal with the stress in his life and leaned on a something to help deal with it. He's admitting to self medicating. There really isn't a more explicit way to take ownership.
Read my second post, I agree that the psychological addicting weed can be stronger than people realize and you described it well, extreme anxiety, paranoia, and difficulty focusing. Ironically some of the most claimed reasons as to why people smoke. But as I'm sure you know heroine, cocaine, that's a completely different animal. Even alcohol. Of the drugs listed here that's the only one where detox can be fatal.
@Patricia_Traina: He also said it was not uncommon for people to randomly stick a gun in his face when he'd walk down the street.
Move asshole!! you're making what? 400-500 thousand dollars, I know a neighborhood where they wont stick a gun in your face! or force you to smoke weed! please grow a pair of balls! I grew up in a neighborhood where there were heroin addicts all around me and I never touched the shit!
one of the worst feelings I had to endure. I couldn't sleep for a couple of days and felt edgy for a few weeks. I never realize that I even had a nicotine addiction until I quit. Maybe I just associate smoking weed to giving up nicotine.
He had some issues and chose to deal with them using a more or less socially acceptable, familiar way to deal with it. Like a co-worker of mine says "we all got our own issues, and we all got our own twists".
But he's an idiot for not handling it like an adult and addressing the issues in a way more befitting a man who stands to make or lose a lot of money. money I guess that might be splitting hairs, but the issue here isn't marijuana, it's th continued poor choices of Hill. Who for the record I really hope they keep around. If not for the suspension I really think he would've been in the mix for the 3rd safety role that now pretty much sounds like is Mundy's to lose.
To me it isn't the weed or whatever ban substance Â
smoking pot is a "cultural thing"! The commish had all of the advantates growing up and does not understand. Where is Al Sharpton when you need him? #notserious
Guy had character issues coming out and still can't get it together.. Smoking bud isn't a big deal but failure to comply with simple rules is. Pass the test dummy, your career is on the line. The guy doesn't get it and never will.
I don't think most people would argue that nicotine isn't addictive and yet the withdrawal symptoms for heavy pot smokers are exactly the same as those from nicotine withdrawal.
It's ok Will. You're not alone. Master Yoda is with you... Â
a stay in rehab, I'll rebut that a guy who is repeatedly failing tests by imbibing in a substance and thereby is threatening his job is a prime candidate for rehab. Addiction/substance abuse issues aren't solely about physical addictions.
and think taking so-called recreational drugs in any form is one of the stupidest thing a person can do, one of the things we often overlook is the environment many of these young pro atheletes grow up in. What goes on in many of their neighborhoods is so completely foreign to most of us it might as well be another country or maybe even another planet. Trying to shake the chains of this type of negative influence by the only peers they have ever know for most of their lives can't be an easy thing for them, as hard as that is for us to believe. I hope Will Hill recognizes this for the BIG wake up call it should be and gets his life and potential great future back under control. Unfortunately, many atheletes never do and it destroys their careers and what could have been. I wish him well!
Modus, the NBA has had a much better offseason than NFL Â
oh suspending him is criminal !!
EricJ (formerly Tyleraimee) : 3:16 pm
smoking pot is a "cultural thing"! The commish
had all of the advantates growing up and does
not understand. Where is Al Sharpton when you
need him? #notserious
Slapping a hash tag on a racial rant doesn't excuse your ignorance. Stupid on so many levels, but of course that's par.the course for TylerAimee.
the point of my post was simply to point out that everyone makes everything about race. Maybe it was just a little too deep for you to comprehend. Instead, you went exactly where the simple minded go... just looking for a racist.
and not taking responsibility. Multiple tests? He is using weed as an excuse as if he is the victim and can't control his own situations. Fuck off.
He has psychological issues he needs to deal with and he needs to grow up. Maybe he will. I hope he does.
Also a note about nicotine. It is one of the most physically addictive substances on the planet on par with Heroin/opiates. The withdrawal effects are not as bad obviously. Weed can be psychologically addictive but so can jerking off. There is not a real comparison between weed and Nicotine.
Perhaps I jumped the gun a bit. Would you mind elaborating on some questions I have regarding abyss-like posts? Let's review, shall we?
First there's...
Quote:
oh suspending him is criminal !! EricJ (formerly Tyleraimee) : 7/28/2013 3:16 pm
smoking pot is a "cultural thing"! The commish had all of the advantates growing up and does not understand. Where is Al Sharpton when you need him? #notserious
and then there's....
Quote:
Modus .. EricJ (formerly Tyleraimee) : 7/28/2013 8:47 pm
the point of my post was simply to point out that everyone makes everything about race. Maybe it was just a little too deep for you to comprehend. Instead, you went exactly where the simple minded go... just looking for a racist.
What is this "cultural thing" you're referring to? I initially took your comment as an inference that blacks alone are prone to drug use, or perhaps it's accepted or even expected that they do. Perhaps you meant alumni of the University of Florida? Guys whose first and last names rhyme?
Also, there's the comment about the commish not understanding. The sardonic implication here is that because Godell is white and Will Hill is black, Godell is penalizing Hill for something he wouldn't otherwise penalize a white player for - or at least you've thrown that straw man out there. Did someone here mention the NFL drug policy as being racist? Have white players not been suspended for using PEDs, most notably and recently, our very own Sash? Maybe the "cultural thing" means safeties do dope?
Also, just so that us laymen can follow your brilliant commentary, where exactly does Al Sharpton fit into all of this? Are he and Will Hill bffs? Do they smoke bones together? Is Al Sharpton the go-to guy when football players fail drug tests? Does he sell whizzinators on the side?
Perhaps the point was too deep for me and I missed it, but who on this thread brought up race, and moreover, would you be so kind as to explain why race is pertinent to the topic on hand?
See, normally I'd let something like this slide, if not for previous posting history. I don't mean for deep, well thought-through posts on serious matters. I mean your penchant for posting inflammatory racist hyperbola. See, I remember the time you referred to a team of black JHS players as "thugs". I also recall your repetitive "Al Sharpton" blathering during the Zimmerman case. It seems to be your meat and potatoes, your go-to whenever a topic involves a black man and you're itching to score some white points.
Right next to East Orange where his family and gang banger friends live. Look at his quote:
Q: Could you explain to us what the stressful part of it was? Was it the NFL pressures?
A: It has nothing to do with football. It was more so family members, people reaching their hand out thinking you’re an ATM, and people thinking you owe them something. There was a situation where I visited my hometown and a guy pulled a gun out on me right in the park for some money. How do you really deal with those situations? You really can’t. I just dealt with it the best way I knew how.
Hes got to stay out of the hood. My cousin pulled him over and his liscense was for West Orange. He needs to understand the chance he has or he will be a thug begging the next athlete to come from the Newark area for money. He needs to cut ties with the ghetto. Start hanging out with Sam Madison at camp. Theres a start
Strahanin talked about family with their hands out I his biography. Â
I imagine that happens to all athletes who grow up in low income situations. Hill needs to learn to compartmentalize things in his life. He can do it but he obviously has to want to. Best wishes kid, I am rooting for your success on and off the field.
it is illegal, so that is why it is a banned substance. Second of all, he failed multiple tests. He deserves the suspension.
I haven't seen his name in camp reports. Is he practicing? The terms of the suspension do allow him to fully participate all summer, including pre-season games.
I can't imagine how shitty that feels. His own mom and stepdad threatened the well being of him and his wife, and he eventually filed a protective order against him.
I say that to some people, but really you can’t choose where you are. It’s a blessing to be here and I know right versus wrong. The Giants helped me the best way they could. They got me help and helped me see other ways to cope with my problems.
He may never be the smartest guy on the team or the most solid citizen. But he might still be a solid player.
That said, Hill knows they test for that & he was on a tight leash to begin with. It was stupid of him. Hopefully it won't happen again because if it does, he's certainly a goner.
{a pun and a serious comment rolled into one (double pun bonus points?)}
July 28, 2013
Q: So what happened?
A: Just going through a lot of stressful times through last season, and I failed a lot of drug tests.
Q: With the initial drug?
A: Yea. It carried over to this season. Just trying to fight it and obviously the league made the decision for this season.
Q: You were very open last year about putting your problems in the past. Is it disappointing for you to have this?
A: Yeah, it’s definitely disappointing. For us being professional athletes, you’d think the people that will have your back would really have your back. But you know, coming up in this environment out here, I had a lot of stress from my environment. That was the only way I knew how to cope with it until I got with the team. They put me in some clinic and that helped me out.
Q: This is an old incident?
A: Yea, it’s definitely old. Nothing recent.
Q: So why didn’t this come up last year?
A: We were trying to fight it, basically. The team stepped in and tried to do the best they could so this would not happen, but ultimately the league made the decision.
Q: This sounds like it’s a stressful situation. You’re not saying it was a bad test or anything.
A: No. It’s just I’ve been through so many stressful times, and growing up the way I grew up, it was just second nature. Growing up, walking down the street and people are putting guns in your face; it’s stressful. You really don’t know how to deal with situations like that when you’re faced with it.
Q: Are you concerned about your standing with the team now, having this suspension?
A: I talked to my team and they just told me to keep moving forward and keep being positive. Just take the full suspension and leave it at that. Just don’t have any more mishaps.
Q: So you think your job is safe?
A: Yea, I think I’ll be around.
Q: Is it going to be a distraction for you to have to go through training camp and preseason only to have to stop?
A: It’s going to be hard, but I wouldn’t say it’s going to be a total distraction from what I need to do for this team. I know all the plays; I just need to keep at it. I would love to be out here to help this team and to help this organization win. I just have to root from the sidelines.
Q: Could you explain to us what the stressful part of it was? Was it the NFL pressures?
A: It has nothing to do with football. It was more so family members, people reaching their hand out thinking you’re an ATM, and people thinking you owe them something. There was a situation where I visited my hometown and a guy pulled a gun out on me right in the park for some money. How do you really deal with those situations? You really can’t. I just dealt with it the best way I knew how.
Q: Did this situation come up when the Adderall came out or was it separate testing?
A: It was a different test.
Q: In some strange way, would it have been easier for you if you had not been playing here?
A: I say that to some people, but really you can’t choose where you are. It’s a blessing to be here and I know right versus wrong. The Giants helped me the best way they could. They got me help and helped me see other ways to cope with my problems.
Q: Since this is an older situation, how confident are you that it’s all behind you and it’s in your past? Do you still fight against that kind of thing?
A: I don’t fight against it at all. The Giants helped me out a lot. I wasn’t here a lot for the spring practices. I was in Boston at a clinic where they helped me. I’ve also been going to an outpatient in Parsippany. I met a lot of people there, made some friends and some therapists that are on my team now and that will help me out with situations like that.
Q: Did you stay at the clinic in Boston?
A: Yes.
Q: And that was this past off-season?
A: Yeah. I stayed for about a month.
Q: You hear about going into these things. Did you go in open minded?
A: Yes. It wasn’t forced upon me. They asked if I wanted to go and I told them yeah. I definitely wanted to get away from here, for one. Get away from the stressful situations and go out there to learn a thing or two.
Q: I’m sure you met a lot of people who have—
A: They had a lot worse issues than I had. It made me feel a lot better.
Q: What month was that?
A: I went in on Easter and came back around April 19th or 20th.
Q: It seems like your life is a lot more straightened out now. As a player, how do you feel this has impacted your development and growth? You’re still a young player and you have a lot to learn.
A: It impacted a lot because I wasn’t able to get around the team in the spring like I wanted to. But then I also had a lot of team support. They were keeping in contact with me and helping me out, especially when I got back. But it damaged a lot, because as a young player you want to get out there as much as you can and showcase as much as you can.
Q: Do you sense any difference, as far as them working with you but they know the first four games you won’t be here?
A: I definitely could take a lot more reps. Yesterday the starters had maybe 23 reps and I had about 11 reps. I see that there is a drastic change.
Let me tell you, coming off that stuff, these guys were physical wrecks. No sleep. Constant anxiety. Inability to string thoughts together. Constant mental confusion.
Weed is a drug. It can be a nasty drug, same as alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine, benzos, or opiates. Don't think weed can't totally fuck a person up. It can. I've seen it.
I felt for these guys, they were both in a world of shit.
That is all.
Move asshole!! you're making what? 400-500 thousand dollars, I know a neighborhood where they wont stick a gun in your face! or force you to smoke weed! please grow a pair of balls! I grew up in a neighborhood where there were heroin addicts all around me and I never touched the shit!
But he's an idiot for not handling it like an adult and addressing the issues in a way more befitting a man who stands to make or lose a lot of money. money I guess that might be splitting hairs, but the issue here isn't marijuana, it's th continued poor choices of Hill. Who for the record I really hope they keep around. If not for the suspension I really think he would've been in the mix for the 3rd safety role that now pretty much sounds like is Mundy's to lose.
Take a hike.
Modus Operandi : 1:36 pm
For some, the grass is always greener...
(I can do this all day)
EricJ (formerly Tyleraimee) : 3:16 pm
smoking pot is a "cultural thing"! The commish
had all of the advantates growing up and does
not understand. Where is Al Sharpton when you
need him? #notserious
Slapping a hash tag on a racial rant doesn't excuse your ignorance. Stupid on so many levels, but of course that's par.the course for TylerAimee.
He has psychological issues he needs to deal with and he needs to grow up. Maybe he will. I hope he does.
Also a note about nicotine. It is one of the most physically addictive substances on the planet on par with Heroin/opiates. The withdrawal effects are not as bad obviously. Weed can be psychologically addictive but so can jerking off. There is not a real comparison between weed and Nicotine.
First there's...
EricJ (formerly Tyleraimee) : 7/28/2013 3:16 pm
smoking pot is a "cultural thing"! The commish had all of the advantates growing up and does not understand. Where is Al Sharpton when you need him? #notserious
and then there's....
EricJ (formerly Tyleraimee) : 7/28/2013 8:47 pm
the point of my post was simply to point out that everyone makes everything about race. Maybe it was just a little too deep for you to comprehend. Instead, you went exactly where the simple minded go... just looking for a racist.
What is this "cultural thing" you're referring to? I initially took your comment as an inference that blacks alone are prone to drug use, or perhaps it's accepted or even expected that they do. Perhaps you meant alumni of the University of Florida? Guys whose first and last names rhyme?
Also, there's the comment about the commish not understanding. The sardonic implication here is that because Godell is white and Will Hill is black, Godell is penalizing Hill for something he wouldn't otherwise penalize a white player for - or at least you've thrown that straw man out there. Did someone here mention the NFL drug policy as being racist? Have white players not been suspended for using PEDs, most notably and recently, our very own Sash? Maybe the "cultural thing" means safeties do dope?
Also, just so that us laymen can follow your brilliant commentary, where exactly does Al Sharpton fit into all of this? Are he and Will Hill bffs? Do they smoke bones together? Is Al Sharpton the go-to guy when football players fail drug tests? Does he sell whizzinators on the side?
Perhaps the point was too deep for me and I missed it, but who on this thread brought up race, and moreover, would you be so kind as to explain why race is pertinent to the topic on hand?
See, normally I'd let something like this slide, if not for previous posting history. I don't mean for deep, well thought-through posts on serious matters. I mean your penchant for posting inflammatory racist hyperbola. See, I remember the time you referred to a team of black JHS players as "thugs". I also recall your repetitive "Al Sharpton" blathering during the Zimmerman case. It seems to be your meat and potatoes, your go-to whenever a topic involves a black man and you're itching to score some white points.
Q: Could you explain to us what the stressful part of it was? Was it the NFL pressures?
A: It has nothing to do with football. It was more so family members, people reaching their hand out thinking you’re an ATM, and people thinking you owe them something. There was a situation where I visited my hometown and a guy pulled a gun out on me right in the park for some money. How do you really deal with those situations? You really can’t. I just dealt with it the best way I knew how.
Hes got to stay out of the hood. My cousin pulled him over and his liscense was for West Orange. He needs to understand the chance he has or he will be a thug begging the next athlete to come from the Newark area for money. He needs to cut ties with the ghetto. Start hanging out with Sam Madison at camp. Theres a start
I haven't seen his name in camp reports. Is he practicing? The terms of the suspension do allow him to fully participate all summer, including pre-season games.
He may never be the smartest guy on the team or the most solid citizen. But he might still be a solid player.