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How the retired QB is trying to save the NFL with medical marijuana.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell faces increasing demands to embrace cannabis as a solution to two crises that threaten to derail the $13 billion-a-year league: painkiller abuse and concussions.

The future Hall of Famer admits to smoking marijuana during his playing career.

When NFL lineman Eugene Monroe spoke out publicly against the NFL’s ban on marijuana, it sparked a national conversation about the merits of cannabis as an alternative method of pain management for players.

Two of the NFL’s top medical personnel discussed the usage of marijuana as a medicinal compound with researchers partially funded by Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Eugene Monroe, according to the Washington Post.

The only NFL player to openly advocate for medical marijuana has donated $80,000 to fund cannabis research on football players at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University.

BOULDER, Colo. - Is the NFL all wrong with regard to its ban on marijuana? A growing number of former and active players, as well as leading researchers at Johns Hopkins, are testing whether a compound found in hemp is a possible miracle cure for concussions and brain injuries.

Faced with traumatic brain injury, depression, chronic pain, and addictive medication, former NFL players are coming together in support of medical marijuana.

(CNN) The NFL and the NFL Players Association have a staunch policy prohibiting marijuana use, but some players are asking them to reconsider it, saying pot can be used for pain relief, and possibly as concussion prevention.

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.

Reports of NFL players trying to get the same effects of marijuana without actually smoking it has observers wondering if the league should relax on their drug policy a bit.

With the countdown underway for Super Bowl 50, there’s a renewed focus on the NFL’s high rate of injuries and concussions, and whether the league should be open to players using medical marijuana to treat their pain.

Ricky Williams doesn't shy away from his support for marijuana. He used the drug as a means of recovery from the pounding he took over his 10-year NFL career, which included two seasons (2002 and 2003) leading the league in rush attempts with a combined 775 carries.

Football players take an alarming array of pain medication to get back on the field but some believe medical cannabis is a safer and more effective alternative.