Chomping at Bits: Antonio Callaway cited for possession, Florida practice updates

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Antonio Callaway cited for possession, didn’t inform Browns: Look, can I hop on a soapbox for a second? (Tony Grossi, ESPN Cleveland; Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

It doesn’t matter that Antonio Callaway likes weed, even this much. People like weed, both in and out of a sport so brutal that former players are campaigning to have marijuana categorized as a palliative rather than a recreational drug. You know other former Florida Gators players who liked weed at least this much, too, whether you know it or not — and you might very well have rooted for players who were high on the field during games, if what I’ve been told over the years by reliable sources is true.

But I’ve never bothered reporting that out because I don’t care if other people use drugs until which point they endanger themselves or others by doing so, and the fact of “Yeah, he got high” didn’t come in conjunction with “And he made seven dirty tackles because of it” or anything like that. I’ve never smoked — really — but I’ve known a few true potheads in my life, and they were harmless people who happened to frequently use marijuana; they didn’t abuse it, and didn’t let their use of it interfere with being otherwise productive members of society. My guess is that “person who smokes weed and is otherwise unremarkably average” covers a whole slew of other daily smokers, too.

And if Callaway lived and worked in a state where weed has been decriminalized or legalized, as a wideout for the Denver Broncos or San Francisco 49ers or something, there would have been no citation for possession for him, and nothing he would have failed to immediately reveal to his employer. In that small way, he’s a victim of the slow but inexorable march toward the United States relaxing its laws on weed not having reached Ohio yet.

But he did get cited, and he did fail to expediently report a run-in with the law to his employer, and he does have a checkered past of disregarding laws and rules — and even if you and I might think some or many of the rules he’s skirted are stupid, it’s equally stupid for someone to repeatedly run afoul of laws and rules, given that doing so might interfere with one’s ability to live freely in the world, or pursue a lucrative career.

I’ve spilled a lot of virtual ink on Callaway here over the last 20 months he’s spent not playing actual snaps in organized football games, and with the Browns’ preseason debut looming as his first chance to get back onto the field and dazzle, like he can and does — and with the Cleveland Browns just having traded Corey Coleman and elevated Callaway to starter — he was finally close to being able to do the job he does so well. Now, that’s in jeopardy; now, he might need to make a decision, and choose weed or work.

I hope Callaway — who is more than two years younger than my youngest sibling, and thus quite young, still — figures out how to live his life productively, whether that does or does not include recreational smoking. But I’m running out of faith that he will.

Okay. Phew. Poor soapbox. You didn’t deserve me standing there for so long.

Florida is practicing but it is not fall: Ah, hittin’. Florida put on full pads yesterday, for what that’s worth to you. (Thomas Goldkamp, 247Sports — $)

Dan Mullen still looking for exemplary QB play: It might be a while, I think. (Scott Carter, Florida Gators)

Trevon Grimes, Van Jefferson have impressed: This does not surprise me. (Scott Carter, Florida Gators)

Best- and worst-case scenarios for Florida in 2018: I like this ... and definitely didn’t have anything similar planned. (David Wunderlich, Gator Country)

Mullen missed the mark in discussing guns, “Tay Bang” incident: I don’t agree with every word of this, and may yet write about it, but I think it’s worth noting that Mullen’s explanation of his “no-weapons policy” came off as bizarre to more than a few people. (Chris O’Brien, The Independent Florida Alligator)

Tate Casey named Florida sideline reporter: The former Gators tight end replaces long-time sideline reporter Brady Ackerman, who left the position this offseason to go into coaching. (Florida Gators)