NFL Super Bowl Star Chris Long: Cannabis Helped With Pain & Sleep During Career, Now Social Anxiety

Chris Long, former defensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles who helped lead the team to a Super Bowl victory, was back in town this past week at a meet-and-greet with fans. 

"It’s been a few years since I was on the team, but I still feel welcome when I come back," Long told Fox News Digital in an interview at a Curaleaf Holdings CURLF cannabis dispensary in Bordentown, NJ, which is adjacent to the Pennsylvania-NJ border.

Like many former athletes, Long has become an advocate for cannabis as a way to treat chronic pain, inflammation and sleep issues. For Long, getting a good night’s sleep was and still is essential.

"What made me turn to cannabis is actually sleep. So, for me, it was insomnia, sleeping pills — all types of bad side effects — and it really just had a negative overall effect on my mental health and just on my sleep," he told Fox. "I also like to use cannabis for a whole host of reasons. But for me, what got me on was sleep."

NFL Rules Now More Lenient Toward Cannabis

In the past, the NFL was much stricter than it is today when it came to failed drug tests for weed. Last year, for the first time the NFL changed its drug policy to exclude marijuana testing during the offseason. In February 2021, the league invested $1 million in marijuana research.

"Now, they’ve raised the threshold, so it’s easier to get around it. But I do think removing the stigma in sports is very important. Like we’re removing the stigma in general. I mean, it's something you have to use responsibly. But it’s not something we should be afraid of," Long said. "It’s something that’s a tool for a lot of people. And it was for me as an athlete." 

Long said that he consumes weed now to help treat his social anxiety, preferring a joint to wine.  

"I’m using it for social anxiety because I’ll go somewhere and everybody else is drinking three or four drinks or whatever, and I’m not really into, you know, going to a dinner party and putting 4-6 back," he said. "I’d like to smoke a joint in the parking lot before I go.”
He added that cannabis takes the edge off and also helps him work, focus and sleep better.

“Really, it’s up to people to figure out responsibly and careful because this is powerful stuff, and it’s a powerful solution. You also just have to be just responsible about how you get into it and just see what’s right for you," concluded Long. 

Super Bowl champ Chris Long talks cannabis use, how he beat NFL drug tests, Eagles' current run https://t.co/6juIxxGFQP

— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 11, 2022

Photo: Wikipedia