Super Bowl champion Marvin Washington is the host of the brand new show “5th Quarter,” which starts streaming today, November 16, on CannactedTV from 420MEDIA. In the cannabis-focused series, Marvin speaks with fellow former football players and contact sport athletes, cannabis nurses, mothers, and medical practitioners about the benefits of using cannabis plant medicine.
Former defensive end Marvin Washington spoke with us about the new interview series over Zoom, “Listen, we’ve medicated with this for thousands of years, let’s get back to it. This is the way we’ve medicated from the shaman to the witch doctor to the medicine men in Asia, this is what we’ve medicated with: things that came from the earth.”
Marvin has been filming the interviews featured in the “5th Quarter” since 2016 and he is excited to finally share them with the world. He is most looking forward to the first episode, which features a one-on-one interview with Boo Williams, a former NFL tight end whose story is one of difficulty that eventually leads to triumph. Boo suffered a close contact head injury that sent his life into turmoil before seeking treatment for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). American football players, hockey players, and boxers are more susceptible to repeated concussions, the cause of CTE, but there is still very little awareness about this issue.
“If the NFL wants continually grow their game, if the NFL wants to take their game across the pond to Europe, I think it’s going to have to change. Because you can’t be exporting the game where you’re going to give the players who play it a brain disease, and so the game has to get safer. All sports evolve… but, if football wants to remain the number one sport in the world… they’re going to have to make the game safer,” said Marvin.
Boo ultimately fell into a spiral of CTE symptoms including memory loss, confusion, impulse control problems, anxiety, depression, and suicidality. After being rescued from a suicide attempt, he sought out The Crosby Clinic. At the clinic, he realized smoking cannabis had been helping him with CTE symptoms over the years. He didn’t know his recreational smoke was functioning medicinally until detoxing off of everything at the clinic. In the premiere episode, Marvin goes in-depth into Boo’s story where we learned to understand how cannabis medicine worked for him with the help from his doctor.
This compelling story is just the beginning of the educational “5th Quarter” series that explores the possibilities of cannabis sports medicine and how we can adapt the game of football to better value athletes’ brain health. After speaking with Marvin Washington, it was clear that he loves football and he values his fellow players, which is precisely why the “5th Quarter” is so important to him. Many of his fellow football players, and many contact sport athletes in general, will struggle with CTE in their lifetime. We’ve lost some treasured CTE-diagnosed athletes to suicide already, so if cannabis medicine can help with maintaining brain health or dealing with symptoms, then it should be explored by all of the major leagues.
“5th Quarter” shows viewers exactly how cannabis medicine can be merged with sports medicine. In addition to no longer vilifying athletes for using cannabis, Marvin believes that there’s room for rule changes in the NFL to lower the risk of head injury. This notion isn’t unheard of — in 1906 there were safety changes made to reduce the risk of death by banning the flying wedge maneuver, legalizing the forward pass, and creating a neutral zone between the lines. These changes can be made again to create more longevity for a game that is already seeing huge drops in youth participation.
“I can see the evolution of football where they back the linemen off the ball like they do in Canada, and they go from a 2-point stand and even make the field wider. That’s going to cut down on those head-to-head, in-the-scrum type of hits that we’ve grown up being used to,” explains Marvin, “This is not going to be your father’s NFL or my father’s NFL. It’s going to be a different NFL, it’s still going to be blocking and tackling but it’s going to be safe.”
With the addition of natural cannabis medicine, the consideration of rules that cut down on head-to-head bashing, and more CTE awareness amongst fans, coaches, team owners, and players; Marvin believes the NFL has a prosperous future that could extend across the pond. However, the dream is not possible with the game of football, as-is. Hopefully, “5th Quarter” can open more eyes to the possibilities for playing contact sports without the risk of head injury. CTE isn’t the focus of every episode but it is a theme woven throughout the series. Marvin’s passion for the plant is clear in the first episode, and we look forward to seeing who he speaks with next.
To watch “5th Quarter” and other cannabis content, download the Cannacted TV app from 420MEDIA on your phone or smart TV.
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