FORT WORTH - Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon smoked marijuana long before the drug was legalized. “[Former Bears coach] Mike Ditka would say, ‘Oh, all you guys, you pot smokers,’ That’s what he’d call us. ‘You pot smokers.’ ” McMahon said Sunday.

“We’d say, ‘It’s better than being drunk out here. We’re still functioning.’ ”

But it wasn’t until McMahon moved to Arizona seven years ago that he began to see marijuana as a way to handle the aches and pains of being a former NFL player — and worse, the effects of repeated concussions.

McMahon, 56 and 30 years removed from leading the Bears to a Super Bowl victory, spoke Sunday on a “Cannabis and Athletics” panel at the Southwest Cannabis Conference and Expo at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

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Ryan Osborne ~ Star-Telegram ~