Report: UGA’s Justin Houston tested positive for marijuana
Justin Houston at the combine. (AP photo)
Citing NFL sources, FoxSports is reporting that Georgia linebacker Justin Houston tested positive for marijuana at the combine in February. Given that the draft is two days away, such news could have broken at no worse time — for Houston, if not for the teams that might have been interested in him.
Such news could also have an impact on the local NFL team’s first choice. It’s widely believed the Falcons are in need of a defensive end, and there’s thought that Houston could be as effective as a down lineman in a 4-3 as at outside linebacker in a 3-4. (Houston played in both spots under both alignments at Georgia.) But the Falcons under Dimitroff have made it a practice to minimize draft risks.
Drafting Justin Houston just got riskier. I can’t see the Falcons picking him now, at least not in Round 1, and I’d be surprised if he’s taken by any team before Round 2. Which would be a shame. He’s a big-time talent with a huge upside. (Sorry to lapse into draftspeak.) All NFL teams cast a critical eye on the draft — this is, after all, their business — and at the moment every franchise has to look at Houston and wonder: “How many guys put themselves in position to flunk their audition?”
This doesn’t mean Houston won’t get drafted somewhere by somebody. This doesn’t mean he can’t become a productive professional for the next 10 days. But it does mean he’s not going to make the money as a rookie he could have.
By Mark Bradley
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368 comments Add your comment
Ricky 4
April 26th, 2011
4:45 pm
Idiot
bob dylan
April 26th, 2011
4:45 pm
I wouldn’t be that worried if I was an NFL team. Mark Richt certainly didn’t mind if he smoked a little pot, or a lot of pot. If you don’t think he was blazing that sh*t up on the reg, then you are about as dumb and naive as Richt. Its part of his routine. He goes and knocks around some O-linemen, sacks some QB’s and unwinds with a fat spliff at the end of the day. It worked for him at UGA, I dont see why it can’t work in the NFL.
PMS
April 26th, 2011
4:45 pm
The sad fact is that weed can stay in your system for up to 30 days or longer, so if you have a job that drug tests for it you can in fact be fired for something you did a month ago that had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH YOUR JOB, AND OCCURRED WHEN YOU WERE IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR OWN HOME MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND ENJOYING YOUR CONSTITUTIONALLY “PROTECTED” RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS…..
I guess employers feel better having crackheads around who managed to stop smoking for a week or so to get it out of their system than they do having someone who smoked a joint three weeks ago…
I always laugh when people who had no jail records and managed to pass a drug “test” are arrested for ripping the employer off or committing some unthinkable crime…. Yeah, keep discriminating against people who may smoke a joint every now and then or who got in trouble when they were younger (and usually a lot stupider). This approach will keep the lawyers busy into the next century…. Maybe just before this country goes belly up and we formally surrender to the Chinese we’ll start to actually “think” for ourselves instead of letting others tell us what to think….. Oh, wait a minute; it’ll be too late then wont it?????????
Damage Inc.
April 26th, 2011
4:45 pm
WOW!! A young man in the prime of his life smokes a little. BIG DEAL.
My only problem is timing, timing, timing…
Stevie Garcia
April 26th, 2011
4:46 pm
hey gringo that was stupid…..
Gay Dawg
April 26th, 2011
4:47 pm
Lets worry about a little weed while Cam Newton cheats his way to the first pick!!!!
conraddobler
April 26th, 2011
4:47 pm
Well smoking pot certainly didn’t harm Michael Phelps’ endorsements…but then again it’s “Michael Phelps”…
Pago Pago DAWG
April 26th, 2011
4:47 pm
Can you imagine the Mannings, Joe Montana, Fran, Brady, YA Tittle acting like this!
ManUp...
April 26th, 2011
4:48 pm
“I don’t undastand, coach…they told me I’d be tested for “SEC Speed” so dat’s what I had quit doin! You aint say I needed to quit da kush!”
stevemwt
April 26th, 2011
4:51 pm
Florida Guy, go back and check Percy Harvin prior to the draft, equally as stupid as Justin. Both are dopes.
sammiamm
April 26th, 2011
4:52 pm
he heard “strike” and thought they meant “strike one up”…
harmless (relatively), but a shame nonetheless.
no crack baggies off Techwood or Northside, right? yeah, right.
bob dylan
April 26th, 2011
4:52 pm
doesn’t he know that you can buy certain products to pass drug tests? if he learned anything in Athens I thought that would be one of em
Just in Hughstin
April 26th, 2011
4:52 pm
Taken a toke and laughing at the joke by coke.
Eagle Dawg
April 26th, 2011
4:53 pm
This has NOTHING to do with UGA or CMR. He is free and clear of the university. This has to do with a PERSONAL decision. Stupid nonetheless, but now maybe he will suffer consequences.
robertussen
April 26th, 2011
4:53 pm
oh no not pot
John
April 26th, 2011
4:54 pm
Not newsworthy. Next.
Babineaux
April 26th, 2011
4:54 pm
The Oakland Raiders will draft Houston with no questions asked.
William Conrad as Frank Cannon
April 26th, 2011
4:54 pm
Nothin better than a big fat spliff.
Coach(sic) Paul Johnson
April 26th, 2011
4:55 pm
Georgia Tech has lost 5 of their last 6 football games, only beating Duke.
So a KID in the prime of his life, who is a big athlete on a college campus in a college town smokes weed………..
And this isn’t even an arresting story, just a positive test…..
Ummmm….. yeah. Sure the timing was off on his part, but other than that, this would actually make me want to send my kid to UGA over the every other day mugging story about Georgia Tech students……
oh look!! Here is one in TODAY’S home page…… http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/georgia-tech-student-robbed-925081.html
Clipboard Joe
April 26th, 2011
4:56 pm
okay…. spoonin or tokin? The choice is yours……..
Sensitive Dawg
April 26th, 2011
4:57 pm
Our rivals are equally dumb. Actually they are not in position to make millions.
HB
April 26th, 2011
4:57 pm
Dumb A*S*S
athensdawg
April 26th, 2011
4:58 pm
i am shocked…SHOCKED..that one of Mark Ray Donnan’s fine boys would be doing this….someone should let him talk to quincy carter.
TallaDawg
April 26th, 2011
4:58 pm
Allen981 @3:46 your argument is circular. He lost millions (is harmed) because a few people SAY tha it is harmful, therefore the fact that it is harmful is proven. Yeah, right. And, pleanty of substances cause cancer and harm the brain more severely than pot. We watse an inexcusable amount of money trying to legislate and control what is in fact morality.
UGA class of 2003
April 26th, 2011
4:59 pm
I smoked a LOT of weed in college, at UGA, with football players at times.
Those of you who want to act like it doesn’t happen at your school are simply idiotic.
I also currently work for a very successful company, and hold a very successful position with them. I still hit a bowl now and then, but not like I did in college……
Funny thing is, Justin Houston is STILL going to make more money than anybody (even the Techies) can fathom.
bob dylan
April 26th, 2011
4:59 pm
Eagle Dawg, bless your heart. I admire your confidence, but c’mon buddy. The kid was smoking pot during his days at UGA. Why would he not smoke put when he was there, but leave and right before the biggest job interview of his entire life pick up the habit. Only difference is…when he was at UGA he didn’t get tested…. I mean caught.
Coach(sic) Mark Richt
April 26th, 2011
5:00 pm
As Mr. College Football Tony Barnhart said,
” Johnson’s critics will eat their words once again.”
Oxy Cotton Dawg
April 26th, 2011
5:00 pm
this is a better high 4 real. Come on justin!
ManUp...
April 26th, 2011
5:01 pm
Next Dawg fan to mention any school that is NOT UGA gets a point-n-laugh.
Duke has these same issues ......... because my ...
April 26th, 2011
5:01 pm
I have nephews that attend Vandy and Duke and GT and yes, they ALL smoke weed. No, they do not play ball but yes, they are very bright and YES, they smoke Hooch. I
could care less ……….. they are not my kids and neither is Justin Houston, although as a UGA man, I have to admit, he IS REAL DUMB doing that at the combines. Dumb and it cost him some $$$ jack. His decision ………….so let him live with it.
Haters ……… especially those of you with no education ………. this ain’t a UGA thing, it is a kid thing and yes, 21 and 22 and 23 year olds still do that.
Gooooooooooooooooo Dogs.
You are kidding, Right?
April 26th, 2011
5:02 pm
Dude, when you said you were doing “mary jane” in Athens, we assumed it was one of Damon’s girls.
Clearly you were not, but “What were you thinking?”
EVERYBODY knows they test for that stuff.
William Conrad as Frank Cannon
April 26th, 2011
5:04 pm
Even though I havent seen my feet in years a big fat spliff is so good every once in a while.
Evansdawg
April 26th, 2011
5:04 pm
GIVE ME A BREAK – How is this a continuation of Richt’s nightmare? A former player smokes some pot. OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH…how scandalous. (Eyes rolling.) Test all of the present players at ALL of the Div 1 schools. There would be nothing left of the rosters. All of you people casting stones are idiots. BTW, Mark…when is the last time you lit up, paperboy?
Babineaux
April 26th, 2011
5:05 pm
The Oakland Raiders will draft
Justin Houston AND Ryan Mallet.
Prescription Dawg
April 26th, 2011
5:06 pm
Pot defenders – Did you smoke before the biggest interview of your lifetime? The problem is the possibility of bigger problems like low intellect or more than a little pot smoking going on.
HowMessedUp
April 26th, 2011
5:06 pm
well isn’t this just great journalism… what a headline grabber… “Pot use by UGA Player”… hasn’t he moved on.. he’s not on the team anymore…. come on AJC! How about “Pot use by Former UGA Player”.
Evansdawg
April 26th, 2011
5:06 pm
I BOUGHT WEED FROM MULTIPLE PLAYERS AT UGA WHEN I WAS A STUDENT THERE. ITS THE ONLY WAY THEY COULD MAKE A DOLLAR. So how is this news??
Carl
April 26th, 2011
5:07 pm
Think this was a random event? Not.
And those who say just pot and it’s victimless are idiots.
sheepdawg
April 26th, 2011
5:07 pm
Typical CMR recruit and player. More shame, and with no end or change in sight………go dawgs…….
blue
April 26th, 2011
5:08 pm
Smoke it up
April 26th, 2011
3:38 pm
A little weed–no big deal. NFL owners just care about winning baby, not taking some harmless drug.
And anyone else with the “no big deal”. It is absolutely NOT about the harmless drug or that he smoked it. It is the lack of good decision making that would scare teams. “If he knows he is going to get tested and still does it, what kind of decision is he going to make the night of the Superbowl one day (Eugene Robinson)?”. You are right…the weed itself is NOT the big deal (like it would be if it was crack or something). This was just STUPID…
bob dylan
April 26th, 2011
5:08 pm
yeah well you know what, carl. you are such a marvin. why don’t you go read a book or go watch MSNBC
Harvey Updyke
April 26th, 2011
5:10 pm
I smoke tree’s
WebMD
April 26th, 2011
5:10 pm
Marijuana has been used 10,000 years longer than alcohol,
and causes much less violence.
HowMessedUp
April 26th, 2011
5:10 pm
But how dumb is this… just plain old disregard for society’s rules….
CONservative Johnson
April 26th, 2011
5:11 pm
Teams have passed on Hall of Famers because of weed. I say grade the player and if the grade says he should be drafted at a certain place, draft him . . .
UGA class of 2003
April 26th, 2011
5:12 pm
I wish Mark Bradley would admit that the headline choice is wrong, and was strictly used to conjure up more hits.
It worked, but it is a little unethical if you ask me.
Aaron Murray: UGA player
Brandon Boykin: UGA player
Ben Jones: UGA player
Matt Stafford: FORMER UGA player
Knowshon Moreno: FORMER UGA player
David Pollack: FORMER UGA player
Herschel Walker: FORMER UGA player
Justin Houston: FORMER UGA player.
I seem to remember just a few weeks ago when Jarret Jack was arrested for a DUI in Gwinnett, and all the Techies shrugged it off because he was a FORMER Yellow Jacket player…….
headley lamar
April 26th, 2011
5:13 pm
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/tech-baseball-player-skole-856270.html
Matt Skole a white Ga Tech baseball player could have killed someone with his car but it barely gets mentioned.
A black FORMER Uga football player tests positive for Marijuana and its a big deal.
Double standard. You betcha.
UGA class of 2003
April 26th, 2011
5:14 pm
Remember when Morgan Burnett was arrested for driving with a suspended license up around Lake Allatoona between leaving Tech and being drafted???
Techies shrugged it off because he was a FORMER Yellow Jacket player…….
Is this logic starting to make sense yet Techies???
Just saying
April 26th, 2011
5:16 pm
For all you idiots out there this is not a Georgia issue. This is a Houston issue. Quit embarressing yourself by showing your “IQ – azz” by making it a Georgia issue. Just saying…
Live free or die
April 26th, 2011
5:16 pm
Are we sure FAUX SPORTS is telling the truth ?