Andre Rison acknowledges he’s made some mistakes.
But the former NFL wide receiver says that he’s working to do the right thing by his son, and has what he feels is a valid excuse for failed marijuana tests.
An arrest warrant was issued for Rison for violating probation and failure to pay child support, saying he owes $323,000 and has paid just $35,000 in recent years.
But Rison told Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press he’s being unfairly portrayed as a deadbeat dad. The support case involves his son Hunter Rison, who now lives with his father and has committed to play football at Michigan State like his dad did.
“He lives under my roof. I take care of him. I coach his football team, . . . We’ve become the best of friends,” Rison said. “I’m just tired. Here I am, being looked at like a hardcore criminal. . . .
“I’m trying to do the right thing. My mistake was made years ago, and I’m still under this microscope. It’s very frustrating.”
The child support lawsuit was filed in 2012 by an Arizona woman who had a son with him when he was playing for the Chiefs. The boy didn’t have a relationship with his father until he was about 12. That’s when the mother reached out to Rison about helping her son with his football career.
Rison said he was eager to, and moved him to Michigan to live with his wife and their four daughters. Rison also has three grown sons, whom he says he has good relationships with.
“I take care of all my kids. Everybody knows it,” Rison said. “I apologized and I let him know that for a long time, ‘I didn’t know where you were,’ ” Rison said. “Now, we’re flying on all cylinders.”
Court documents showed that Rison tested positive for marijuana three times while he was on probation, but he said he eats marijuana candies for pain relief after a 12-year career in the NFL.
“I hurt every day,” he said. “I’ve got arthritis. I’ve got broken bones, bone spurs in my neck. I could drink it away or take pain pills. My choice was marijuana candy. I’m not a pill popper”
Rison’s primary complaint is the amount of child support he has to pay, saying he makes $3,300 a month in NFL disability payments and makes $9,000 a year as an assistant football coach at a high school. With an annual income under $50,000, he thinks the $1,000 monthly payments (down from the original $2,358 a month) are unrealistic.
