Last month, Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving decided to quit football because of the league’s stance on marijuana. He also contributed his decision on the advice of his former coach, Jason Garrett.
“He told me I should just quit, smoke all the weed I want, the team didn’t need me,” Irving told Jori Epstein of USA Today. “I’m a distraction to the team. . . . He views marijuana as a drug, whereas I view it as a medicine. It’s not a good situation.”
Those comments bring us to his most recent interview with CBS radio where the retired DT accuses Garrett of being uncomfortable around people of color.
“It’s not just one person that doesn’t get along with him,” Irving told CBS Radio’s “Tiki & Tierney.” It’s a lot of people. I feel like he needs to be more comfortable with people of color, to be honest with you. This is a league where there’s a lot of people of color around, and you’re going to have to deal with us. If you don’t know how to talk to us or relate to us – we just never got along. He’s the only person I haven’t gotten along with in pretty much all my career in football.
“I think it’s a little uncomfortable for him. Not to say the man’s racist. He’s definitely not racist. Do not get me wrong. It’s just maybe he’s socially awkward.”
Irving continued:
“I know he has a problem with me because I don’t necessarily work as hard as he thinks I should work to be as good as I am at football,” Irving said. “I feel like Jason is one of those guys where, growing up in football, he was always the second-hand man or the third-string guy, and I feel like he had to work his a-s-s off to even be able to step on the field with some of these guys. Me, I could roll out of bed with a hangover and go outperform anybody. I don’t think he liked that.”
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As far as the rumors that he quit football to smoke weed, Irving emphasized last month that he’s not smoking marijuana because he wants to, but because he believes he needs to, for health reasons.
“I didn’t quit football to smoke weed,” Irving said. “That would be idiotic. I understand that. . . . It’s about wellness, about rights. People need to understand that.”
I think it’s safe to say that Irving won’t be welcomed back on the Cowboys if he does have a change of heart to continue his career.
