Life in The NFL, Opiates, and Cannabis with Eben Britton

Former NFL Offensive Tackle Eben Britton speaks openly the NFL, opiates, and how cannabis saved him. After 6-years as a professional football player, Eben retired and became an advocate for responsible cannabis use.

Who is Eben Britton? 

Eben Britton is a former American football offensive tackle who played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Selected 39th overall in the 2009 NFL draft, he spent four years with the Jacksonville Jaguars followed by two with the Chicago Bears, last playing football in 2014.

Eben was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, California. Somewhere in his bi-coastal upbringing lies the essence of his being. A bridge between two worlds (the east and the west). Always finding peace in the middle of two extremes.

His early years were filled with athletics and art. He fell in love with football and writing. Eben earned a degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona.

Driven by a deep desire to overcome the adversity of his childhood, Eben battled his way to the NFL. 

His football career provided him with an in depth, firsthand experience of dealing with immense pain and trauma. 

In life after football, Eben was forced to learn and cultivate practices to allow for healing and restoration, bringing balance to the mind, body and spirit. 

Britton is an advocate for removing cannabis from the list of banned substances in the NFL. Britton says he used cannabis as a preferred method of pain management during his football career, and has cited the health risks associated with pharmaceutical painkillers as a reason why players should not be punished for choosing a natural alternative. Britton is a member of the Gridiron Cannabis Coalition, a group that advocates for the NFL to change its policy on cannabis He is also a member of the Doctors for Cannabis Regulation NFL steering committee. Britton revealed in a September 2016 interview with the New York Post that he used cannabis before three of the NFL games he played in. Britton says that in addition to relieving the pain of his injuries, cannabis also improved his mental concentration on the football field, and that the games he played after using were some of his best performances. Britton also estimated that over 50 percent of current players use cannabis and that the number could be as high as 75 percent.

Britton is a board member of Athletes for Care, a group that advocates for athletes on various issues of health and safety including the use of cannabis as medicine. Through Athletes for Care, Britton co-hosts the Caveman Poet Society podcast along with Nate Jackson.

Highlights

[4:00] The source of Eben’s