Last night was the premiere of the much-anticipated ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the 1985 Chicago Bears, and it certainly did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and only started thinking critically about the program this morning. That Bears championship team is unique in that they only won a single championship, yet they are always in the conversation when the subject turns to the best football team ever. Generally speaking, a team needs to be a dynasty with multiple championships to their credit in order to earn that degree of respect. But the combination of football dominance, and larger-than-life personalities, that was the '85 Bears sets them apart. They really are in a "league of their own", so to speak.
I was 23-years old at the time of their Superbowl victory over the hapless New England Patriots, which means most of the players are of my generation. That fact made it easy for me to relate to them as they looked back 30 years, and reflected on what was surely the greatest moment in all of their lives. The producers of the documentary were able to assemble a half-dozen of so of the most prominent members of the team to tell the story including quarterback Jim McMahon seen above lighting a marijuana cigarette. And that is not a still image from the documentary, which made no mention at all of the fact that McMahon openly admits to using the drug to treat a number of health issues stemming from his playing days.
Obviously, the producers realized that they couldn't avoid the elephant in the room and had to dedicate at least some of the show to the health challenges faced by retired football players. And by including McMahon in the documentary, they were forced to confront the issue of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) because McMahon is suffering from the consequences of having experienced repeated concussions as a football player. The list of symptoms he ticks off include pain, depression, memory loss, early onset dementia and issues with his vision and speech. But, having introduced the issue, the producers then disposed of it by doing a segment on chiropractic treatments that McMahon claims has greatly diminished the severity of his symptoms. Problem solved.
But what they didn't address was the equally troubling issue having to do with the chronic pain that football players experience, both during their playing days, and long after they retire. One of the incidents recounted in the show nicely highlights the unbelievable hypocrisy that permeates our society when it comes to drugs. Head coach Mike Ditka had a rule in place that held that if a player didn't practice during the week, then he wouldn't be allowed to play on Sunday. McMahon had spent part of that week in the hospital, in traction, and did not start the game. However, by his own admission and that of his teammates, McMahon had taken a number of painkillers on game day and felt that he could play. And, with the Bears losing, he badgered Ditka to put him into the game. The coach finally relented, Jim McMahon took over at quarterback, and led the team to a comeback victory. But, on the very first play from scrimmage, McMahon stumbled backwards and nearly fell down because of the effects of the drugs he was on. Only to recover his balance and throw a touchdown pass. His teammates laughed about it.
What isn't very funny though would be the fact that McMahon, and hundreds of other players, rely upon prescription painkillers to deal with the often unbearable physical pain they live with every day. Many of them will become addicted to the pills and end up in rehab, jail, or worse. McMahon states that he took roughly 100 Percocet pills a month to cope with the chronic pain, and was only able to get off the painkillers through the use of marijuana. He calls medical marijuana a "Godsend", and advocates for the use of medical marijuana to treat current, and former, NFL players. Now, I understand why the producers of the 30 for 30 documentary about the Bears decided not to tread there. Marijuana is still deemed to be a dangerous drug with no medicinal properties by the federal government, and remains illegal in many parts of the country. They would have gotten serious flack if they had asked McMahon about it. But, they evidently had no qualms about lightheartedly recounting a story about that time Jim McMahon staged a comeback victory with a powerful assist from some opioid-based painkillers.
I was 23-years old at the time of their Superbowl victory over the hapless New England Patriots, which means most of the players are of my generation. That fact made it easy for me to relate to them as they looked back 30 years, and reflected on what was surely the greatest moment in all of their lives. The producers of the documentary were able to assemble a half-dozen of so of the most prominent members of the team to tell the story including quarterback Jim McMahon seen above lighting a marijuana cigarette. And that is not a still image from the documentary, which made no mention at all of the fact that McMahon openly admits to using the drug to treat a number of health issues stemming from his playing days.
Obviously, the producers realized that they couldn't avoid the elephant in the room and had to dedicate at least some of the show to the health challenges faced by retired football players. And by including McMahon in the documentary, they were forced to confront the issue of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) because McMahon is suffering from the consequences of having experienced repeated concussions as a football player. The list of symptoms he ticks off include pain, depression, memory loss, early onset dementia and issues with his vision and speech. But, having introduced the issue, the producers then disposed of it by doing a segment on chiropractic treatments that McMahon claims has greatly diminished the severity of his symptoms. Problem solved.
But what they didn't address was the equally troubling issue having to do with the chronic pain that football players experience, both during their playing days, and long after they retire. One of the incidents recounted in the show nicely highlights the unbelievable hypocrisy that permeates our society when it comes to drugs. Head coach Mike Ditka had a rule in place that held that if a player didn't practice during the week, then he wouldn't be allowed to play on Sunday. McMahon had spent part of that week in the hospital, in traction, and did not start the game. However, by his own admission and that of his teammates, McMahon had taken a number of painkillers on game day and felt that he could play. And, with the Bears losing, he badgered Ditka to put him into the game. The coach finally relented, Jim McMahon took over at quarterback, and led the team to a comeback victory. But, on the very first play from scrimmage, McMahon stumbled backwards and nearly fell down because of the effects of the drugs he was on. Only to recover his balance and throw a touchdown pass. His teammates laughed about it.
What isn't very funny though would be the fact that McMahon, and hundreds of other players, rely upon prescription painkillers to deal with the often unbearable physical pain they live with every day. Many of them will become addicted to the pills and end up in rehab, jail, or worse. McMahon states that he took roughly 100 Percocet pills a month to cope with the chronic pain, and was only able to get off the painkillers through the use of marijuana. He calls medical marijuana a "Godsend", and advocates for the use of medical marijuana to treat current, and former, NFL players. Now, I understand why the producers of the 30 for 30 documentary about the Bears decided not to tread there. Marijuana is still deemed to be a dangerous drug with no medicinal properties by the federal government, and remains illegal in many parts of the country. They would have gotten serious flack if they had asked McMahon about it. But, they evidently had no qualms about lightheartedly recounting a story about that time Jim McMahon staged a comeback victory with a powerful assist from some opioid-based painkillers.
