We learned yesterday that Raiders wideout Martavis Bryant had been suspended indefinitely by the NFL. While it was certainly possible for the 26-year-old to rehabilitate his image and return to the league, at least one individual believes the receiver has already played his final game in the NFL.
A source told FanSided.com’s Jason Cole that he doesn’t believe Bryant “will ever play again” (Twitter link). This might not necessarily be attributed to teams’ lack of interest; rather, Cole says the wideout “seriously angered” the NFL during the process. Bryant had previously been fighting a substance abuse suspension, but a lost appeal means that he’ll be banned until further notice.
The 2014 fourth-round pick had previously served two suspensions during his stint with the Steelers: a four-game ban in 2015 and a season-long ban in 2016. He was conditionally reinstated by the league in April of 2017, and this most-recent ban was attributed to “violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement” (via NFL.com’s Austin Knoblauch).
The Raiders sent Pittsburgh a third-rounder during the draft to acquire Bryant, but the organization later learned that the wideout was facing this potential suspension. The Raiders ended up releasing the wideout at the end of the preseason, but they re-signed him to a one-year deal less than two weeks later.
Bryant was allowed to play during the appeals process, and he proceeded to play in eight games for Oakland, hauling in 19 receptions for 266 yards and no touchdowns. The team placed the receiver on the injured reserve in early December after he suffered a knee injury.
I wish Martavis the best in his recovery from his demons with marijuana abuse. As a recovering addict myself, I know how hard it is since I can buy it at the corner store like millions of other people and because it’s mostly legal.
Nothing worse than getting stoned and watching TV. What a dirt bag.
Yeah I hope he doesn’t smoke a bunch of weed and do something dangerous like eat a whole sleeve of Oreo cookies
‘Cole says the wideout “seriously angered” the NFL during the process.’ Really? Every team has signed 2nd, 3rd and 4th time offenders. The teams are mad a a person for smoking pot; but gladly sign a guy who is going to the Fed Pen for insider trading or DV. Excellent standards there.
JJB0811 you are dead on
Yeah but this way Donnie T won’t talk badly about the league.
If it’s only weed this is ridiculous. Its legal in a lot of states. I sense theres more to the story though.
The XFL is hiring
I suspect his girlfriend might have injected herself into the process again at some point, which is why the League is mad at him.
Right before the Steelers dumped him on the Raiders, she was rambling on Twitter and screaming about how Martavis was the best Steelers WR and the coaches sucked for not playing him more. Besides her obvious lack of intelligence, she never heard of Antonio Brown or JuJu.
Million dollar talent, but 10 cent brain for this guy. Too bad.
If only he put the pot down and smacked his girl up, Martavis might still have a promising career
The way that the NFL is destroying Martavis Bryant’s career is a joke. On the Redskins alone, they have one guy who has abused women on multiple occasions (Reuben Foster), a guy who has openly admitted to beating his children with a switch (Adrian Peterson), another guy accused of domestic abuse (Caleb Brantley), and a guy who has been arrested on multiple occasions for DUIs (Michael Floyd). The league isn’t exactly sterling. Everyone recognizes that. But Bryant is basically being kicked from the league for using a substance that is legal in the state where he’s currently playing. There’s no doubt he has a problem, but it isn’t nearly as bad as some of the other guys in the league. The NFL need to get their priorities in order.
They’ve made clear multiple times weed is a much more egregious offense than beating women or children.
Don’t people like money more than drugs? I seriously don’t get it.
doesnt matter if it’s legal in states..if your employer says no then it no.. and to get suspended multiple times is his own fault..
DV players get suspended as well, IF they get a 2nd chance I would bet they wouldn’t do it again..
so for all the ” oh ban for weed but not DV idiots out there, these smoking weed had 3 tries to avoid a ban”
So this guy keeps getting nailed for weed and they are saying he odds are has played his final game. But, Kareem hunt can’t beat the crap out of a woman and everyone is certain he will play next season. Got to love the logic.