Johnny Jolly

[WhiteHouseOn3]

Jolly was my favorite player. My brothers bought me a mock jersey with his name and number on it for Christmas that year. Was heartbroken when all of this went down and he couldn't come back the following season. I have the shirt on storage hoping he'd be back, but it'll always be special to me.

I live and work with the poorest of the poor, and serve coffee to the homeless on a weekly basis. Hearing their stories of addiction has changed my perspective completely. It's not as easy as stopping cold turkey. I wish him the best, and I hope he gets the help he needs.

 

[Raptorman]

Yes, it is just cough syrup, prescription cough syrup with codeine. I've yet to find a doctor that prescribes cocaine. Michael Irvin gets caught with a bunch of cocaine and later with crack pipes, etc. No jail time. Much worse drug, much worse offense, regardless of what the law says. The laws are inconsistent anyway. In West Virginia you can get caught with a $20 sack of weed and do fairly serious jail time, here in Ohio you can get caught with 199 grams (almost a half pound) and get a $100 citation and go home, and in California you can have it delivered because you told your doctor you can't sleep at night and gave him $100 for a weed card.

Just cough syrup. That line says it all. What if was just cocaine? Oh it's only a little cocaine. That's the problem, to many people think "it's just cough syrup". Obtained how? Did the person he get it from steal it from a Pharmacy, or didn't they get in an armed robbery? But it's just cough syrup. Don't matter that if someone takes it they should not drive. It's just cough syrup. So he gets high, drives and kills someone. "Sorry, I just had some cough syrup. It's legal by prescription. Mine, oh I bought it from Joe down the street." But it's just cough syrup.

 

[Mushroom]

It was codeine.

Who needs a New Orleans forum...this whole damn thread is chock full of saints. Some of you people, it's sad and pathetic.

 

[DevilDon]

How old is he? Chances are, he won't spend the entire 6 years in prison. He could get out early for good behavior and/or prison over-crowding. He could spend as little as two years in prison, maybe less, then get released on parole. He could work a deal to live in GB and play for the team. Lotsa IFs there but it could happen.

Spoken like someone who knows the ins and outs of the legal system.

Truth be told, Johnny Jolly had a poor upbringing but he had a shot at an American dream. His failure is sad but no more so than the athlete who tried 100% and kept his nose clean every single day and worked harder than them all but fell short in athletic ability. Jolly had the opportunity and squandered it, most never have the opportunity.
Donald Driver didn't have it handed to him, he had the chance and he grasped the ring.
Still... good luck to the big guy.

 

[DevilDon]

One big problem is that football is all some of these guys have in their life.. take that away and it just spells trouble. I got an idea, how about when a player gets into trouble and gets suspended, instead of them having to stay away from the game and their support, they get put on the practice squad and have to take practice squad pay. They get all the hanging around the team benefits without the big payday and spot light of the game.

OMG are you serious? I'd have loved to have the chance to play professional football and I'd have never, ever squandered it by taking drugs. My love in life is my family and hey, guess what? I don't do drugs and squander that either.
When given good stuff in life it's up to you to appreciate it and run with it. And just like every other member of the human race I've faced adversity.

It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you're not a winner.
Vince Lombardi

 

[DevilDon]

I didn't mean to sound dismissive. I lost a nephew to an "accidental" overdose. Point being that he most assuredly needs help...but first, he needs a slap in the face with the carp of reality....and I think we both know that he won't see 6 years in prison and 200:1 says that when he gets out in roughly a year, he'll be right back at it because that is the life he knows...only now, he won't have the economic resources to actively pursue his recreational and/or addictive tendencies. Nobody can help Johnny Jolly until he decides to help himself. As any one of the millions of addicts sitting in prison and sleeping in shelters or under bridges...how does a society go about handling an issue of that size? Can millions of addicts, not just addicts with name recognition, be helped when they make adult, conscious decisions to keep taking a hit to the head with the stupid stick? He has to WANT to be helped and apparently, he didn't WANT to be helped on 2 different occasions.

Well that pretty much summarizes my ideas on the subject. Thanks weeds for clarifying a not very confused topic.

 

[Forget Favre]

Just cough syrup. That line says it all. What if was just cocaine? Oh it's only a little cocaine. That's the problem, to many people think "it's just cough syrup". Obtained how? Did the person he get it from steal it from a Pharmacy, or didn't they get in an armed robbery? But it's just cough syrup. Don't matter that if someone takes it they should not drive. It's just cough syrup. So he gets high, drives and kills someone. "Sorry, I just had some cough syrup. It's legal by prescription. Mine, oh I bought it from Joe down the street." But it's just cough syrup.

Well, when you take something that can be harmless (Cough Syrup) and add it to something that is more serious (Codeine) it makes the whole thing still seem harmless.
Which of these two seems worse?
I'm gonna go and shoot up some heroin with a needle.
Or
I'm gonna go and eat a cake with some heroin.
Cocaine at one time was thought to be harmless enough that it was an ingredient in Coca Cola.
And there is cough syrup for children. I don't know if it has codeine in it or not but I think you get my point.

 

[Forget Favre]

Codeine is used to relieve mild to moderate pain. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000565/

Vicodin is used to relieve moderate to severe pain. http://www.drugs.com/vicodin.html

Vicodin is a much stronger pain killer than codeine.

If Johnny Jolly deserved 6 years, didn't Brett Favre deserve 10???

Well no because he is an awesome, terrific quarter back and the judges and DA are all Packers fans and know how important and unique he is to the team while there are tons of players who can replace JJ who is in a dime a dozen position.

I'm being a bit sarcastic with ya Tex to show how wonky the justice system is when it comes to celebrities vs average Joes and Janes.

It also depends on how Brett obtained his vicodin. If it was all legal, then he didn't have to see a day in court.
If it was illegal, then yeah, the DA should have done something.
Right now we can get gallons and gallons of booze at a liquor store.
But if we are caught with 45 lbs of pot which isn't as harmful as booze, see ya in like 70 years when you get out of the slammer.

 

[Raptorman]

The real irony here, if Jolly had not been busted again in March or Oct of 2011 he would probably have been reninstated and maybe the Packers would have kept him. He could have been on the field instead of the slammer. I hope for his sake he gets the help he needs and finds a way to stay clean. By the reports, on good behavior he can be out in as little as 14 months. It' not to late for him to turn his life around. But it is his decision. If he never plays another down in football he still has to deal with life on the outside.