Retire? Jason Garrett told David Irving to decide if he valued weed more than the NFL

Former Cowboys defensive tackle David Irving recently accused coach Jason Garrett of telling him to quit football and smoke weed.

Irving, who is currently a free agent, was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for violating the substance abuse policy last month. He then announced he was quitting the NFL during a live video on Instagram because of the league’s policy against marijuana.

The latter was the advice a fed-up Garrett gave Irving during the season, according to Irving.

“He told me I should just quit, smoke all the weed I want, the team didn’t need me,” Irving said to USA Today. “I’m a distraction to the team. He views marijuana as a drug, whereas I view it as a medicine. It’s not a good situation.”

Garrett, speaking on the subject for the first time at the NFL annual league meetings in Phoenix, remembered the conversation going a little differently. He simply told Irving he had to decide what was more important to him, his convictions on weed or playing in the NFL.

“The only thing I would say is there are some rules and parameters you have in the NFL if you want to play and you have to follow those rules, independent of what your opinions are on any particular topic, you have to stay within the confine of the rules or they’re not going to let you play,” Garrett said. “So, something so important to you to break those rules and that prevents you from playing, you’re making a decision about what you value most. I was just trying to indicate to him if you want to play in the NFL these are the rules, these are the parameters you have to follow.

“There are certain things you have to do if you want to have the privilege of being a player, a coach or a staff member in the NFL. If you don’t want to follow those things, you aren’t going to have the opportunity to do this.”

Considering that Irving was suspended for the first four games in each of the last two seasons, wasn’t available for the end of each season and then missed multiple tests resulting in an indefinite suspension, Garrett’s likely felt his hands were tied.

According to USA Today, Irving is going into the marijuana business. He is teaming up with Ghost Beverage to launch cannabidiol pre-rolls (joints) and cannabidiol vape pens.

This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 7:00 AM.