'DISTURBING NUMBER OF LONGHORNS HAVE POT ISSUE

... OK, raise your hand if you can relate.

Seriously, this is not the kind of news the Longhorns needed the week of the Ohio State game. As usual, the clear thinkers at Burnt Orange Nation are on top of things and have the right approach. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Mack Brown and DeLoss Dodds need to at least address the fact that -- convicted or not -- a disturbing number of Longhorns players have been implicated in marijuana-related incidents.

Is there a marijuana problem within the program?

Go back to Ricky Williams, of course. He's a longtime admitted user ... he says for medicinal purposes. Yeah, right.

But then there was Cedric Benson arrested for possession of marijuana, although the charges were dropped for lack of sufficient evidence. What happened to the evidence, I have no idea.

Others arrested in recent months in connection to marijuana-related incidents: Running back Selvin Young, DB Edorian McCullough, linebacker Aaron Harris, the former player who also was arrested with Tarell Brown on Monday, and defensive lineman Larry Dibbles. That foursome was stopped after failing to signal while exiting an interstate. Marijuana was found. The case was dropped because failing to signal off an interstate no longer is illegal in Texas, rendering the evidence inadmissable. A friend of one of the Longhorns later said the pot was his.

Then earlier this year Ramonce Taylor was dismissed from the team after being charged with possession of four pounds of marijuana. Four pounds? Wow.

Now, this.

This latest marijuana-related news is the last thing the Longhorns needed. It will be interesting to see how Brown handles Tarell Brown's availability for Saturday's huge game against Ohio State. Really, he SHOULD NOT PLAY.

There are a lot of great kids from great families in the UT program, I know a lot of them. I've seen several players grow up in the Houston area and know they're great kids. Freshman defensive back Robert Joseph has been like part of the family for me, as he played for my summer basketball team and spent a lot of nights at our house making us laugh and showing tremendous character.

For the sake of those kids, their parents and the program's reputation, Dodds and Mack Brown need to approach this trend head-on.

The first task is fixing anything wrong within the program. Next, it wouldn't be a bad idea for UT football's most visible cause to become an anti-drug campaign ...'