Randy Gregory Tests Positive For Marijuana at NFL Scouting Combine

Former Nebraska Cornhuskers defensive end and NFL prospect Randy Gregory tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis last month, per NFL.com.

Randy Gregory has tested positive for marijuana.

Gregory confessed to NFL Media’s Kimberly Jones on March 26 he tested positive for pot during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month. Gregory divulged the positive finding during an interview at his agent’s home office in Atlanta.

“I blame myself,” Gregory told Jones on Thursday. “And I know it sounds cliche, but there’s really no one else I can blame.”

Gregory says he found out about the positive result two weeks ago during a phone conversation with his father. All the while, Gregory thought the NFL sent a letter inviting him to the NFL draft next month, per NFL.com.

Instead, it was a letter saying “I failed a drug test,” Gregory told Jones.

Nonetheless, Gregory says he’s confident in spite of the anxiety he feels, per NFL.com. He quipped,”Am I worried? Yeah, I’m worried. At the same time, I’m confident. I know I’m going to be all right in the end.”

Gregory told Jones he first smoked marijuana after he graduated high school from Hamiltion Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind. He also smoked pot before he enrolled at Arizona Western Community College four years ago. 

NFL draft prospect Randy Gregory tested positive for marijuana at scouting combine. » http://t.co/ZDOGuCTyrL— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 26, 2015

When Gregory failed to qualify academically at Purdue University, he resorted to marijuana to cope with the setback, per NFL.com.

Greogry did not suit up for the 2012 NCAA season due to a broken leg. He transferred to the University of Nebraska a year later, where he also tested positive for marijuana in Jan. 2014 and April 2014. The Nebraska ahtletics department told him he would be dismissed from the team had he tested positive thrice, per Jones.

Gregory told NFL.com he hasn’t smoked pot in more than three months, but his elevated THC levels eventually led to the positive result. He is remorseful for what he did in the past:

“I was worse at Nebraska than I’ve ever been at any other time of my life. But I know how I am now. I think if teams really look at how I am now more so than the past, they’ll see I’m making strides to get better, as a person and as a player.

“At the end of the day, it was my fault. I was being selfish. I was being stubborn. I felt like I could do things my way and it would work. And it didn’t work.

“Obviously, this is new news–that I failed the test at the combine–but the fact that I’ve smoked in the past isn’t a mystery. I’ve had conversations with (NFL) coaches. I believe we all have an understanding of why I did it. But I feel like I’m improving. I know I am.”

NFL Draft Prospect Randy Gregory from Nebraska tested positive for marijuana at the COMBINE » http://t.co/PVmXOTSbmw pic.twitter.com/jfwExkkGVN— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 26, 2015

Gregory swears he’s been taking regular drug tests and that the amount of pot in his blood has continued to diminish. He told Jones he will eventually overcome this hurdle:

“I want people to really understand that I know I made a mistake, for one. That I knew what I had coming up (the combine), and I still made that mistake. That was dumb. 

“I want people to understand I’m not some dumb jock pothead. I’m not. I’m intelligent. I love the people who help me, I love my family, I love my support group. I love football. I love winning. And I don’t want to be labeled as some bust that couldn’t make it back because he smoked. And I won’t be labeled as that. 

“So I just want people to understand that. This /4/be a setback. You /4/look at me a certain way, but at the end, I’m still going to be on top. I’m still going to do well.”

Gregory will get much-needed help.

A March 26 ESPN update says Gregory “will enter the NFL in the first stage of the league’s substance abuse program.” Former NFL head coach and current ESPN NFL analyst Herm Edwards will also serve as his mentor. 

According to ESPN, Gregory could slide down the draft charts next month. ESPN football analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. had Gregory going No. 7 overall to the Chicago Bears in his latest mock draft.

Kiper’s colleague, Todd McShay, has Gregory going fifth overall to the Washington Redskins. He also considers Gregory the best outside linebacker among this year’s NFL prospects. 

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