It turns out that Eugene Monroe’s advocacy was driven by more than just the goodness in his heart.
Eugene Monroe has been publicly supporting more cannabis research from the NFL. Of course, that isn’t news to anyone reading this. If it is, I invite you to join us all out here in the sunshine and remove yourself from the cave you’ve been hiding in.
Anyway, Monroe’s advocacy isn’t the cause of his release. It did, however, make his lack of commitment to the Ravens crystal clear. His advocacy was a mere symptom of his attention being focused elsewhere, away from football. Monroe put this cause ahead of his football career publicly. It was more important to him than football, and that doesn’t fit the Ravens’ culture. He needed to go.
Whether his advocacy would have been acceptable had he committed himself more completely to the Ravens is up for debate. But he was an employee who called out his employer – and the league to which it belonged – publicly.
If you listened to his comments, you would have believed that he was doing it purely because he thought that it was what is right for the future of player safety.
But Monroe had some other motivations…
From The Washington Post:
When Illinois-based Green Thumb Industries was exploring a venture in Maryland last summer, executive Pete Kadens approached Eugene Monroe, then a tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. The company had heard from other Maryland-based partners that the football player was privately supportive of medical marijuana.
I’m sure that Monroe wasn’t alone in the Ravens locker room in privately supporting this cause. But what changed to make him go public? I wonder…
Monroe agreed to invest after spending two months vetting the company and considering other potential growers, Kadens said. He has closely watched the approval process, even attending commission meetings, and this year became a vocal advocate for using medical pot. Until now, his investment in Green Thumb Industries was not publicly known.
$$$, of course!
I’m sure that Monroe believes in this cause. He wouldn’t put money into it if he didn’t. But maybe next time he makes an $80,000 donation to research, we’ll realize that he has a financial interest in the outcome.
h/t duffybr
