He is an average player?
He doesn't have to play in the NFL. This is been a part of the agreement long before he was a player, so he could have choose a different career path. Instead, he is making millions a year and cashing those checks without thinking twice. Based on your statement, he could smoke pot. It is part of the rules and in agreement too and there is no cheating involved. Really no differenct than not want to to talk to the media, but the NFL enforces both.
He's not Tom Brady, Brady wanted more control over the football so he lobbied the NFL to change the rules, and they did(along with Peyton Manning). and yet people still want to believe Brady told the truth about not being involved in deflate gate. now if Tom Brady and Manning got up and said they didn't want to do mandatory interviews anymore the NFL might take notice, for whatever reason QB's are treated differently.
Well unless he has a medical pot card no he can't legally smoke pot. He can legally not talk to the media, but the NFL will fine him for it.
Sure he could be doing something else but that goes back to the original point of his foundation, he doesn't want kids in Oakland growing up thinking their choices are drug dealer, pimp, gang member or maybe professional athlete. He wants them to think they have other options. When he was growing up, he didn't really think he did, the way he saw it his only way out was sports.
His uncle is ex Cardinal Lorenzo Lynch but from what I gather, Lorenzo wasn't particularly well off, marshawn's dad was not involved in is life, so he grew up like lots of kids from Oakland single parent family with not much money.
He was a great athlete so he chose that route.