Former Broncos edge rusher Randy Gregory has filed a lawsuit against the organization and the NFL over a prescription medicine issue, according to Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post.
According to the current Buccaneer’s lawsuit, he has been penalized more than $500K in the last year and change for ingesting THC-containing drugs. Gregory’s lawsuit alleges discrimination. The veteran edge defender claims he was denied a therapeutic use exemption for this medicine and was later fined $533,000 by the league. According to Gabriel, the Broncos were not involved in levying the penalty.
Although the 2020 CBA reduced regulations on recreational drugs, THC remains a prohibited substance. Players are no longer suspended for positive THC testing, although fines remain in effect. Gregory’s lawsuit claimed that he sought permission to use Dronabinol, a medicine prescription for social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, during non-work hours but was rejected. Gregory, who frequently violated the league’s harsher drug rules in the 2010s, has openly discussed his anxiety issue.
Gregory, 31, initially requested authorization from the Broncos and NFL to utilize Dronabinol in March 2023, but was denied, Gabriel says. Another request for a therapeutic use exemption was denied in May 2023, according to the lawsuit. It is unknown how many fines Gregory received; players will be punished half a week’s wage for positive THC testing, with the punishment increasing to three weeks’ pay later in the process. Gregory was signed to a five-year, $70 million contract with the Broncos from 2022 until he was moved to the 49ers in October 2023.
The action claims that the NFL and Broncos’ refusal to grant the former second-round pick “reasonable accommodation” is discriminatory under Colorado law, and he seeks damages. Gregory was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder in 2021, and Gabriel noted that the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis came in February 2023. Gregory signed with the Broncos in March 2022. The Dallas Cowboys draftee initially filed discrimination complaints against the Broncos and the NFL in July 2023.
Between 2016 and 2019, the Nebraska product was suspended four times due to substance usage. He missed the entire 2017 and 2019 seasons due to suspensions, and he only played two games in 2016. Gregory resurfaced with a good streak in 2020-21, earning him a $14MM-per-year contract, but he failed to live up to it in Denver. Injuries sidelined him for the majority of 2022, including a chapter in which Gregory reneged on a Cowboys agreement at the last minute owing to contractual language.
Denver moved Gregory to San Francisco in October, but only received a Day 3 pick-swap agreement despite paying the majority of the outside linebacker’s salary to make the transaction. Gregory signed a one-year contract worth $3 million with Tampa Bay in April.
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