Travis Kelce Thinks Up To 80% Of NFL Players Use Cannabis, Explains How They Still Pass Drug Tests

Professional athletes, including NFL players, smoke weed and use cannabis. That's just a fact, and nothing about said fact is surprising. What may be a bit of a shock is just how many players around the league indulge in the devil's lettuce, which Travis Kelce estimates up to 80% of them take part.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end hit a bit of a speed bump involving cannabis during his college days at Cincinnati when he was suspended for using the drug. Now, entering his 10th year in the NFL, he's seen some things, including how players who do use cannabis consistently pass drug tests.

“If you just stop (using) in the middle of July, you’re fine,” Kelce told Vanity Fair, while also estimating anywhere from 50-80% of players take part in cannabis use. “A lot of guys stop a week before, and they still pass (drug tests) because everybody’s working out in the heat and sweating their tail off. Nobody’s really getting hit for it anymore.”

Kelce is right, players aren't getting popped with positive drug tests all that often anymore because since 2021 players are only subject to one cannabis test per year, which takes place at the start of training camp.

READ: SUPER BOWL CHAMP CHRIS LONG TALKS CANNABIS USE, HOW HE BEAT NFL DRUG TESTS, EAGLES’ CURRENT RUN

Travis Kelce believes upwards of 80% of NFL players use cannabis. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Kelce didn't just grab that 80% number out of thin air. He's obviously been around long enough to see teammates and other players partake in cannabis use, but the face of weed use in the NFL, Ricky Williams, predicted at least 80% of NFL players smoke weed as well.

“These days, at least 80 percent of NFL players smoke weed,” Williams said in December 2022. “I don’t think they’re smoking before games – I think there might be one or two guys on the team. But especially this day and age, it’s everywhere, it’s so easy. My opinion, if you’re in the NFL, why wouldn’t you?”

As Williams noted, the number of players lighting up before throwing on the pads on a Sunday is probably extremely low, but given America's flip of the script of being pro-cannabis over the last decade-plus, that 80% guestimate isn't all that high.