While the NFL draft dominated the Ben Franklin Parkway on Friday, several former players met at the Union League to discuss medical marijuana with cannabis entrepreneurs, scientists, and advocates.

The league has faced growing criticism for its anti-cannabis stance, especially considering its cozy relationship with alcohol brands and the prevalence of opioid use among players.

Meet Wanda James and Scott Durrah, the Colorado cannabis power couple who predict it won’t be long before the NFL embraces marijuana as a brain medicine and as an alternative to dangerous and addictive painkillers.

If the Cowboys owner gets his way, we could see fewer player suspensions.

Apart from the reality that it’s the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do for the business of the NFL.

Jim McMahon will appear on ‘Thursday Night Football’ in his home state stumping not for the navy blue and orange — but for green.

Jim McMahon will appear on ‘Thursday Night Football’ in his home state stumping not for the navy blue and orange — but for green.

Former Super Bowl champion and Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon says an unfairly demonized drug helped him recover from the pain of his football career: medical marijuana.

Faced with traumatic brain injury, depression, chronic pain, and addictive medication, former NFL players are coming together in support of medical marijuana.

When NFL lineman Eugene Monroe spoke out publicly against the NFL’s ban on marijuana, it sparked a national conversation about the merits of cannabis as an alternative method of pain management for players.

Franco Harris is joining to movement for medical marijuana. While the Steelers legend is in good physical and mental health after a lengthy football career, he openly approves marijuana use for the days he doesn't feel so great and has become a strong advocate for current players to use the plant for medicine.

Ricky Williams doesn't shy away from his support for marijuana. He used the drug as a means of recovery from the pounding he took over his 10-year NFL career, which included two seasons (2002 and 2003) leading the league in rush attempts with a combined 775 carries.

FORT WORTH - Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon smoked marijuana long before the drug was legalized. “[Former Bears coach] Mike Ditka would say, ‘Oh, all you guys, you pot smokers,’ That’s what he’d call us. ‘You pot smokers.’ ” McMahon said Sunday.

Kyle Turley believes marijuana counters the effects of CTE and he wants the NFL to allow players to use it.

HOUSTON (NEXSTAR MEDIA) — Marijuana is currently on the list of substances banned by the NFL but several former players are hoping to change that.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell faces increasing demands to embrace cannabis as a solution to two crises that threaten to derail the $13 billion-a-year league: painkiller abuse and concussions.

Football players take an alarming array of pain medication to get back on the field but some believe medical cannabis is a safer and more effective alternative.

DENVER - Hemp is helping. Former Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer says he is taking CBD, also known as cannabidoil, and it is easing the daily pain he suffered from a decade playing in the NFL.

It’s not all brats and beers these days.

The NFL continues an authoritarian stance on marijuana use while team doctors still dole out powerful and addictive painkillers.

(CNN) The NFL and the NFL Players Association have a staunch policy prohibiting marijuana use, but some players are asking them to reconsider it, saying pot can be used for pain relief, and possibly as concussion prevention.

Reports of NFL players trying to get the same effects of marijuana without actually smoking it has observers wondering if the league should relax on their drug policy a bit.

How the retired QB is trying to save the NFL with medical marijuana.

BOULDER, Colo. - Is the NFL all wrong with regard to its ban on marijuana? A growing number of former and active players, as well as leading researchers at Johns Hopkins, are testing whether a compound found in hemp is a possible miracle cure for concussions and brain injuries.

Few industries have been able to change their narratives as drastically as legal marijuana, and it has done so with the help of two sympathetic groups: Football players with a traumatic brain disease and sick children.

On Friday, Kerr became the latest high-profile sports figure to advocate for the use of marijuana as a way to deal with chronic pain.

A former pro football star and an advocate for athlete marijuana use have teamed up to open a gym in San Francisco that they say will be one of the first in the world to allow members to smoke pot while working out.

PHILADELPHIA -- The conversation about marijuana's place in the NFL is heating up.

Two of the NFL’s top medical personnel discussed the usage of marijuana as a medicinal compound with researchers partially funded by Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Eugene Monroe, according to the Washington Post.

Former NY Giants defensive lineman Leonard Marshall has partnered with a New Jersey pharmacy to market medical marijuana.

Many NFL players are finding that marijuana offers a safer alternative to pain management than anti-inflammatory medication and are beginning to push for the NFL and the NFL Players Association to reconsider the substance abuse rules that the two sides negotiated.

Changes in the country's attitude toward marijuana use may be taking effect in football.

Leaders of the NFL Players Association are preparing a proposal that would amend the sport’s drug policies to take a “less punitive” approach to dealing with recreational marijuana use by players, according to the union’s executive director, DeMaurice Smith.

As society continues to wrestle with the acceptability, or not, of marijuana, the NFL and NFL Players Association try to strike a proper balance regarding the permissibility of the substance.

Retired NFL players use opioids at four times the rate of the general population, according to one study, and marijuana advocates say there’s a safer, healthier alternative available.

The only NFL player to openly advocate for medical marijuana has donated $80,000 to fund cannabis research on football players at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University.

The Super Bowl isn't just for beer drinkers, marijuana consumption also jumps for the big game.

With the countdown underway for Super Bowl 50, there’s a renewed focus on the NFL’s high rate of injuries and concussions, and whether the league should be open to players using medical marijuana to treat their pain.

The future Hall of Famer admits to smoking marijuana during his playing career.

Former NFL star Ricky Williams is featured in an upcoming SI Films production in which he discusses his experience with marijuana use and his support for legalization.

If he gets caught again, Seantrel Henderson will be banned for life.

It’s been a landmark year for medical marijuana in football.

What’s happening in the NFL is an example of what your weed-loving friends have always told you.