Wisconsin Badgers
Ex-NFL, Badgers LB Casillas aims to ease pain with cannabidiol
Wisconsin Badgers

Ex-NFL, Badgers LB Casillas aims to ease pain with cannabidiol

Published Jan. 23, 2019 12:01 p.m. ET

Jonathan Casillas stepped in front of the microphone and told the audience the truth: He wished he could "pull out a fat doobie and smoke it."

But even here at, yes, the Cannabis Business Awards, this was a no-no.

This was no scene from a Cheech & Chong movie, with smoke billowing throughout the air. These awards were a formal affair and being held at the Denver Hilton. There was no vaping or smoking allowed and as the co-host of the event, Casillas had to make this perfectly clear to everyone -- especially Table 4, which hadn't gotten the memo.



A little over a year after his final game, Casillas, who played linebacker at Wisconsin and for three teams over nine years in the NFL, was in his element and loving every moment being on stage.

After suffering a serious neck injury in 2017, for the first time in his life Casillas started thinking of the "R" word -- retirement. That meant, also for the first time, he had to start figuring out what he wanted to do once he was done with football.

"And of course everything pointed towards cannabis," he said.

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