The NFL denied a request by free-agent running back Mike James to use marijuana, rather than prescription opioids, as a painkiller.
"I am hopeful that I'll be able to keep playing football," James told Steve Politi of NJ.com. "It is a game that I love very dearly. I know right now I'm doing something that makes some people uncomfortable, and that I'm going against the establishment to push for a change in the way they look at this medicine. I know there's a greater purpose here for a lot of guys in this league who I consider family members.