- Travis Kelce was suspended for a year after testing positive for marijuana in 2010
- McAfee was furious that the incident could have potentially denied the NFL a major success
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Pat McAfee has boldly claimed that it won’t be long before marijuana is legalized across the United States as he appeared to shade the Dallas Cowboys for passing up Travis Kelce due to his failed drug test.
The Kansas City Chiefs star was suspended for one year by the NCAA during his time at the University of Cincinnati after failing a drug test.
On an earlier episode of his New Heights podcast with his brother Jason, which resurfaced at this year’s NFL Combine, Kelce revealed that his marijuana mistake left a black mark on his record when it came to interviews with the Dallas Cowboys.
And McAfee was outraged that the incident could have potentially denied the NFL a major advantage, as he insisted it wouldn’t be long before the league scrapped marijuana testing.
“The NFL has always used marijuana as leverage in negotiations with players,” McAfee said on his eponymous show on Wednesday.
Pat McAfee seemed to shade Dallas for passing up Travis Kelce due to his failed drug test
The players will say, “We want fewer offseason practices because we feel like we’re getting beat up.” And the NFL says, “You want weed? We get 20 games.” And the players’ association says, “We’re not going to give all that up just for weed.”
“But it feels like we’re approaching a point where marijuana will likely be federally approved. You’d think someone with brains would do that. It’s only a matter of time.
“I took that from that Travis Kelce story. First of all, great answer. ‘I worked my butt off to do that. I was young, I’m sorry. I have made a mistake.’
‘But nowadays they also say: “Did you hear that you failed a cannabis test?” “Yes.” “Okay, thanks for being honest, let’s move on.”
“Thank God Andy Reid didn’t care about Travis when he drafted Travis. And thank goodness Andy Reid brought in Patrick Mahomes because watching those two play football together has led to people robbing banks.
“Hopefully the NFL will be a better place in the future by eliminating the marijuana test. The fact that that possibly slowed down a GOAT because of a mistake that was made when he was 19, and every other human does that.”
While in college in Cincinnati in 2010, Kelce was suspended for a year after testing positive for marijuana.
He previously revealed in his Combine interview that the suspension proved to be a sticking point for the Dallas Cowboys.
Kelce was suspended for a year during his college years because he tested positive for marijuana
The host thanked Chiefs head coach Andy Reid for drafting the tight end despite the ban
“I had some bad interviews at the Combine,” Travis recalled on the old episode of New Heights, which resurfaced this week.
“The Cowboys, they pushed me because I got red flagged because I missed a year.
‘I don’t know if I was having a bad morning, I just didn’t even know if I wanted to say this.
‘It was over very quickly. I basically just said, ‘If you guys think I’m going to be that person, or if you’re wondering if I’m still that person after everything I fought through to get where I am today, from missing a season, then you guys will probably go somewhere else and pick someone else.”
The NFL increased the threshold for a positive marijuana test from 35 nanograms to 150 in 2021, while also eliminating testing for that in the offseason. Several states in the US have legalized or decriminalized marijuana in recent years.
Kelce recently estimated that 50 to 80 percent of active NFL players smoke marijuana, though he admitted that most quit the habit well over a month before the seasons start.