Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Randy Gregory reportedly wants to sue the NFL and his former team, the Denver Broncos, for a fine of more than half a million dollars.
The pass rusher filed a lawsuit in Arapahoe County District Court on Wednesday, claiming he was discriminated against for being fined for more than a year plus taking disability medications, including THC, according to Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
In the complaint, Gregory alleges he has been fined a total of $532,500 for repeated positive THC tests since March 2023, although it does not specify how many times he has been fined or whether all of those fines involved the Broncos. The NFL no longer suspends players for marijuana use, but it is still a banned substance and players face fines if they test positive.
The Post also notes that the Broncos would have had no role in administering the fines, which falls under the purview of the NFL and is enforced in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association.
Gregory reportedly claims he was prescribed Dronabinol, a synthetic THC, to address social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Apparently he applied for permission to use it after hours in March 2023, and then applied for a therapeutic use exception in May. Both times he was rejected.
From the message:
“This is a serious effort by Randy to move the NFL forward in the field of alternative methods of pain management,” Gregory’s agent, Peter Schaffer, told The Post. “If a doctor prescribes hydrocodone, it is completely legal and much worse for the player, but the player will not be suspended or fined. Randy isn’t trying to buck the system, but he’s paying $500,000 in fines for something that anyone in the state of Colorado can do. All we want is a reasonable accommodation so that Randy can manage his disability as directed by his treating physician.”
The lawsuit reportedly alleges that Gregory was denied a reasonable accommodation for his diagnosed disability, which is discriminatory under Colorado law.
Substance abuse has been a career-threatening issue for Gregory in the past, as he missed much of the 2016 season, all of the 2017 season and all of the 2019 season due to a litany of failed drug tests.
There will likely be plenty of players and agents watching this lawsuit from afar. The NFL has never been shy about fining its players small fortunes for the smallest infraction, and this is one area where players won’t be happy unless they feel like they don’t have to choose between their money and a lack of pain. or mental stress.
Gregory’s lawsuit also comes after an unceremonious departure from the Broncos, who signed him to a five-year, $70 million contract in free agency in 2022. The signing was supposedly a coup for the Broncos, who picked up Gregory after he reportedly agreed to it. to a deal to stay with the Dallas Cowboys, but it was a disaster.
After 6.0 sacks in his final season with the Cowboys, Gregory recorded just 3.0 sacks in 10 games over two seasons with Denver. The team decided to part ways with him early last season, eating up a total of $22.4 million in dead money in the process. Initially, the team decided to release him before trading him to the San Francisco 49ers.
Gregory did little with the Niners, signing a one-year, $3 million deal with the Bucs in April.
