Chiefs tight end and Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce believes that at least half and as much as 80 percent of the NFL uses cannabis.
Kelce, who encountered his own difficulty with cannabis when he was suspended for using the drug while playing at the University of Cincinnati, told Vanity Fair how players get around the league’s testing policy.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on the red carpet at the Kansas City Chiefs ring ceremony at Union Station on June 15, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri. (Jason Hanna/Getty Images)
“If you just stop (using) in the middle of July, you’re fine,” he said. “A lot of guys stop a week before, and they still pass (drug tests) because everybody’s working out in the heat and sweating their tail off. Nobody’s really getting hit for it anymore.”
Avoiding a positive test is much easier under the NFL’s current testing regime than in previous years. Under the old rules, players could be suspended for repeated violations of the league’s rules against cannabis use. However, those rules were revised in 2021, and now players are only subject to one annual cannabis test at the start of training camp.
Travis Kelce, #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs, speaks to the press during Chiefs Mini Camp on June 13, 2023, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
Those rule changes, in part, lead Kelce to believe that 50-80 percent of the league is using cannabis.
While the number of players using, if Kelce’s estimates are accurate, might seem high. It also needs to be factored in that many players are likely using the drug for pain management, not just recreationally.
Kelce has amassed 10,344 yards and 69 touchdowns in his nine NFL seasons.