What would we talk about regarding the Ravens during this, the Dead Zone period in the NFL, if it weren’t for good ole Derrick Martin carrying three baggies of Mother Earth through airport security checkpoints in Cleveland?
Look, let’s not be naïve here, these athletes are a reflection of society. They are part of an experimental by nature demographic. The percentage of professional athletes who are tempted by marijuana is probably no different than a cross-section of men in a like peer group.
That said, if given a choice between an athlete smoking pot at home or having him out in Canton throwing back Jaeger Bombs, I think he’s safer at home.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning Martin’s behavior. It’s really rather laughable, but in a sad way. Martin is a sixth round draft choice entering his third season. To date he’s proven almost nothing.
He has an opportunity to contribute on a defense that annually is among the league’s best. He’s part of a defensive system that has an uncanny knack for getting the most from an athlete’s skills sets, elevating them to levels that a second day draft choice, or an unrestricted free agent, could previously only have dreamed of.
Just ask Adalius Thomas, Bart Scott, Will Demps, Ed Hartwell, Kelly Gregg and Dawan Landry.
Yet despite it all, Martin had a momentary lapse of reasoning that will probably cost him dearly.
Some might say that Martin was just flat out dumb!
I am one of those some.
This particular incident may not affect Martin at all in terms of the league’s substance abuse policy. But now he’s surrounded by undesirable red flags, and for an unproven sixth round draft choice, that is about as inviting to prospective new employers in the Goodell Era as a match to spilled gasoline in a tiki bar.
Derrick Martin’s transgressions aren’t the only “newsworthy” Ravens’ items being bantered these days.
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