Absolutely and 21 is an adult. As an adult he made the choices that led to where he's at. He could have had 3,000 yards for all I care. He had the game in the palm of his hand and knowing full well it would cost him his career he couldn't put the joint down. Hopefully he has learned his lesson. But I know first hand from experience of people close to me that it's hard to change once you've gone that far down that road.
If he wasn't fully aware of the rules he'd broken and the further rules being applied to him than that's his and his agents fault. I don't give a damned if he was busted the last time for jay walking. He knew what he could and couldn't do and he couldn't keep his ass out of trouble. I am not speaking to the validity of the rules or what you or I or he or Santa Claus thinks of them because that's completely irrelevant. He knew the rules and what would get him in trouble. And he did it knowing it would cost him time playing in the NFL.
Did he or did he not know the rules? Did he know if he broke them what were the ramifications? Did he then break the rules anyways? That's the question if he didn't know the rules then shame on him and especially shame on his agent and the Browns for not explaining them. Again I don't give a damn about anybody's feelings about what the weed or alcohol or PED rules are. They're the rules, the players know them because their Union agreed to them and if you break them I'm sorry I have no sympathy for you.
Too bad Josh didn't follow Ricky's example. Quit for a couple years to make more money then retire early and go back to doing what you want to do.
So he's old enough to sign a contract. He's old enough to agree to the rules set forth in that contract. But he's not old enough to be held accountable when his actions break the rules that he's agreed to? I'm not saying smoking weed is smart or dumb. I'm saying he knew what the consequences would be and he did it anyways.
If he's cleaned himself up then he's taken the first step. Though Ricky was never in as much trouble as Josh has been in, not even close.
Again, and it's getting tired repeating myself on this, if the Rams sign him great! But don't expect me to hold my breath for him to stay clean. If he proves me wrong I'll applaud him and be very happy that the man decided to play football instead of get high. But until he proves me wrong I'm under no obligation to ignore his past transgressions. He made mistakes and until he proves himself beyond those mistakes he's open to criticism for them.
