NFL’s Laremy Tunsil is selling an NFT gas mask to help cannabis prisoners
The Houston Texans lineman lost millions on NFL Draft Day 2016 after leaked video showed him wearing a grass mask
With the start of the 2022 NFL draft tonight, a league veteran is bringing back the narrative of one of the most infamous draft day dramas of all time.
In 2016, Laremy Tunsil was predicted as a top 5 pick by the University of Mississippi. But he slipped down to 13 after his social media accounts were hacked minutes before the draft began. Tunsil’s verified Twitter account posted a video of him smoking “an unknown substance” through a gas mask bong.
Tunsil’s reps said the accounts had been hacked, and a subsequent post on his Instagram account suggested fans at a competing university were responsible. In 2021, Tunsil told Complex that his draft night was “probably one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt in my life.”
The Miami Dolphins eventually picked him when he was 13. The team said they already knew about the video and that it was taken two years before the draft. But Tunsil still paid dearly for the incident. Because NFL rookies get paid based on where they were picked, the leaked video and lower draft placement cost him millions.
The NFT’s description explains: “The token will be issued with the support of the video’s original owner, Laremy Tunsil, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit The Last Prisoner project. Released without Laremy’s approval on draft night in 2016, the video forever changed the course of Laremy’s future… The holder of this token will forever possess a unique piece of draft memorabilia.”
On the way on the high road
Tunsil survived the rough break to become a highly respected NFL veteran (and a member of our Leafly All-Reefer Fantasy Football team). His outstanding performance on the field helped normalize cannabis use for athletes in all sports, debunking the tired notion that winners don’t smoke weed.
“I still play with anger to this day because I have to prove myself because I feel like I’m not getting the recognition I deserve because of the gas mask.”
Laremy Tunsil, Houston Texans offensive lineman
Ricky Williams, a fellow NFL standout and member of the All-Reefer team, knows all about it. “As a growing up athlete, it was two parts: First, you have to be good at your sport. But second, you have to be good,” Williams said on the No Jumper podcast earlier this year. “You have to avoid trouble. And that means: stay away from drugs. I was trying to make it through the sports route, so I stayed away from drugs.”
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Brittney Griner Isn’t Alone: Here’s Why Pro Athletes Are Using Cannabis
The NFL and most other sports leagues have stopped testing players for THC during the off-season, and many have stopped THC testing altogether. This does not mean that athletes are no longer punished. Olympians Sha’Carri Richardson and Brittney Griner have both grappled with the harsh consequences of cannabis and have shown that we still have a long way to go to normalize the plant for everyone.
Today, Tunsil hosts the Protect The Tree YouTube show and Divine Tree website, where he openly advocates for the plant. And he’s not alone at the forefront of normalization.
Click here for a chance to own Tunsil’s exclusive NFT bong mask. And read on to see how he and other NFL veterans are working to normalize the facility for players of all sports.
“I’m officially going ahead and putting this moment in the past,” Tunsil tweeted after minting his new token. “A portion of the proceeds will benefit @lastprisonerprj, which supports those incarcerated for cannabis crimes,” he added.
The NFL’s Marvin Washington helped pave the way
Scientists are finally studying how weed affects professional and amateur athletes. But anecdotal data from athletes who have had to consume in the shade due to rules and stigma is also valuable for our understanding.
Eleven-year-old NFL veteran Marvin Washington is an ambassador for the Last Prisoner Project in his native New Jersey. Washington was the ceremonial first customer at pharmacy The Botanist last week, where he told Leafly more about the fight to break weed stigma in sport.
The veteran defender was drawn to the plant due to the medicinal benefits he noticed while playing. “It’s natural, it’s non-toxic, it’s not addictive. And it has so many benefits [for me] come from the sports field. It is a huge advantage over the opiates, benzodiazepines and synthetic drugs that are poisoning this country.”
“The world’s largest sports league, the NFL, has just funded two research groups to study the medical benefits of CBD. They will show the way. They don’t test guys or suspend for it. Neither the NBA nor any of the big four leagues… That’s the normalization of this plant.”
Marvin Washington, former NFL player, current cannabis advocate
NFL player Ricky Williams’ journey from Heisman to Highsman
NFL and NCAA record-breaker Ricky Williams was recently outspoken about his experiences using the plant as a top athlete. He revealed that he smoked prior to some of his most historic games in college and that he got into the NFL’s substance abuse program because of a misunderstanding about testing schedules when he switched teams.
Williams says his legendary senior season got off to a rocky start on and off the field. His girlfriend broke up with him and made the team quarterback. So he felt down. Then his roommate pulled out a bong and put him on a historic trail.
“I went to my room and lay on the bed. And I realized that I wasn’t obsessed with the bad game. I wasn’t obsessed with my girl. I just felt good. And then my head started thinking about positive things… True story, the next two weeks of this season (I ran for) consecutive 300 yard games.
Ricky Williams on how cannabis affects his mental and physical performance
Decades after winning college football’s prestigious Heisman trophy, Williams now operates the Highsman brand, specializing in cannabis products for sports fans to use while watching TV. The products are endorsed by the biggest names in the world of sport and could help bring buds to the same level as beer in athletics.
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