What Not To Do If You're A Top 10 Pick In The NFL Draft - Get Pulled Over and Cited For Weed 3 Days Before

TIME – Former Missouri Tiger football player Shane Ray, projected to be drafted in the early-mid first round of the 2015 NFL draft, was cited on Monday for possession of marijuana and a traffic violation.

According to ESPN, the pass rushing linebacker was pulled over for speeding on a Missouri highway and when the officer smelled fresh (unsmoked) marijuana he searched the vehicle — finding a “personal amount” in the car.

The officer said Ray was cooperative and did not appear impaired during the procedure. He was given a misdemeanor for having 35 grams or less of pot in his possession and was not detained. The maximum sentence for misdemeanor marijuana possession in Missouri is one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

He will appear in court on June 30.

Ray is also dealing with a toe injury and there is speculation that he may need to undergo surgery, but he told ESPN that he will “take it easy through rookie camp and continue to focus on rehab and healing.”

“I’d like to apologize to my Mother, Fans and prospective NFL teams for my poor judgement Monday morning,” Ray said. “I am embarrassed and realize there are consequences for my actions.

“I was not under the influence nor impaired, therefore I was not detained. Fortunately, Mondays incident only resulted in a citation. I will make better choices in the future. It is imperative that I continue to strive to better myself. My future NFL career has been something I have always dreamed about and is very important to me. I commit that my actions will represent that. There are no excuses here and I will take the necessary steps to ensure this will not happen again. I will not jeopardize my ability to have a positive impact on and off the field moving forward.”

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So ridiculous that in 2015 we’re still talking about arrests and citations for marijuana, especially when it’s legal in a handful of states and decriminalized in a ton of others, but here we are. Shane Ray’s entire future and career possibly about to be affected by a dime bag of pot. Seems so silly.

But that’s not to let him off the hook here by any means. Just because the rule is dumb doesn’t mean driving around with weed on you 3 days before the biggest night of your life when you KNOW that rule isn’t the stupidest thing ever. I’ll never understand it. How anyone could get a DUI, get in a bar fight, get busted with drugs etc. when they are under a microscope being judged on how many millions they should get. I mean you know how stuffy these NFL guys are. Think that a baggie of weed in your glove compartment means you’re going to be the next Aaron Hernandez. Just don’t put yourself in that position, if it were me I’d be like Devon Sawa at the end of Final Destination locking myself in an empty cabin with nothing but a chair so I couldn’t possibly get myself in trouble.

And the worst part about this whole thing?

Ruined Peter King’s mock draft.

MISSOURI – Asked restaurant host: “God, did you hear about my Mock Draft 2.0?”
Host: “No.”
Me: “Ruined. Shane Ray cited for personal baggie of marijuana.”
Thought he would cry.