Once a week leading up to the 2008 NFL Draft, three-time Super Bowl winner Clayton Holmes will personally explain some of the pitfalls he fell into as a player: Money problems, inability to say "no," the gold diggers, the party culture, his own demons from childhood. As told to BC sportswriter James David Dickson.

In my Father's Den

I remember my first experience with marijuana like it was yesterday.

My sophomore year of high school. Just got off the bus from school on a Friday. Entered the house to the sounds of my dad guitar in his den, cool as I'd ever seen him. At his left was a gin and juice; on his right a joint. He worked on the railroad, so he made sure to enjoy his weekends. I was headed straight to my room before:

"Clayton, come on in here," he called. "Son," he said before taking a long drag, "I don't want to see you doing this. What you do when you're a grown man and have your own place is your business. You don't make enough money to support a habit. In this house, the only man who drinks and smokes is me. You understand?"

To his way of thinking, being able to come home after a long day of work and play some guitar, enjoy a stiff drink, and smoke the occasional joint was a privilege that only a working man, with a family and a mortgage, could enjoy.

Fast forward to my third year in the League. Still hadn't done much drinking or any smoking by that point. My marriage was falling apart at a time when I should've been on top of the world. I was 24 years old and I'd already earned more money in two seasons than my father had his entire life.

So I'm at a teammate's car on the way home, we're just talking, chilling. Then he lights up a joint.

"Pass that," I said. I'd just decided to file for divorce. I was in a contract year. Something had to break, and something did. Regardless of what they tell you on television, the first hit ain't free.

Why Ask Why? You Can't Afford Not To

When you go from winning Super Bowls to playing $200-a-night "professional" football, you have a lot of time to think about how you went from point A to point B.

At first it felt good to blame the whole world. My parents, my teachers, the kids at school, even my hometown - anyone who had ever made me feel less-than. But a real man must take responsibility for every part of his life.