On Wednesday, New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie made headlines due to his comments on marijuana. During an interview with thisis50.com, Cromartie said, “We’re just going to do it anyway,” Cromartie said. “They just need to let it go. They need to go ahead and say, ‘Ya’ll go ahead, smoke it, do what you need to do.’”

While he may have been harsh in his delivery, Cromartie is absolutely correct. The NFL should just avoid the inevitable and legalize medical marijuana.

To begin, lets look at the positives of just using medical marijuana in the NFL. While there is no concrete evidence at the moment, many believe the marijuana could help treat concussions and other brain injuries suffered by players. If that is the case, players are going to jump on the opportunity to use the drug.

The benefits don’t end there. Football players are getting everything knocked out of them every Sunday. With all there bones hurting, lighting a joint helps relieve that pain. The other reason player’s use it is for stress relief. With the pressure placed on these players every week, it may not be the worst thing to use the drug to relax themselves.

More important than what marijuana brings is what it avoids. Prescription painkiller abuse has been rampant across the league for some time now. Players are using Vicodin, Ocycotin, and other over the counter medications. Players have been recently addressing the abuse of these drugs and are aware it’s a problem. Steelers safety Ryan Clark said on ESPN, “A lot of it is stress relief. A lot of it is pain and medication. Guys feel like, If I can do this, it keeps me away from maybe Vicodin, it keeps me away from pain prescription drugs and things that guys get addicted to.”

The benefits of bringing marijuana to the NFL seems to be endless. Not only does it help players relieve the pain, but it helps them avoid more serious problems in the future. Commisioner Goodell needs to sit down and really think about legalizing medicinal use.