By Mark Smith for ESPN

THE TRUEST WAY to see the NFL is not before the game, when the helmets are shiny and the energy is high, but after the final whistle, when the bodies are bruised and the athletic tape is soiled with dirt and blood. Or at the practice facility the following day, when the players show up with crutches and walking casts, fingers in splints, arms in slings.

Pain is the singular constant of the NFL. Maintenance of that pain is as vital to players as mastering the read-option; whether through cortisone, painkillers or drugs and alcohol, they have always self-medicated to heal from the game that breaks their bodies. Which is why, more than any other sport, the NFL should lead the conversation on considering medicinal marijuana as a therapeutic alternative.

Medicinal marijuana is currently legal in 20 states, eight of which are home to NFL teams, and it is almost universally accepted in the medical community as a safe and effective pain reliever. Yet there appears to be no plan to reassess marijuana’s place on the NFL’s list of banned substances, and according to the NFLPA, no player in the league has received an exemption to use pot for medicinal purposes.

Read more: Is it time for the NFL to embrace marijuana? – ESPN The Magazine – ESPN.