Josh Gordon reinstatement possible? He's almost done with rehab
What’s more amazing: That Josh Gordon hasn’t played an NFL game since Dec. 21, 2014, or that he’s still just 26 years old?
Gordon’s harsh punishment for alcohol and marijuana use may be ending soon. Maybe. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, quoting Gordon’s trainer Tim Montgomery, said he’s almost done with a 90-day rehab and hopes to be reinstated from his indefinite suspension on Sept. 21.
[Enter the $150K Baller football contest. $10 to play and $15K to 1st place]
We’ll see if the NFL agrees, or if Gordon can stay clean. Since the start of the 2014 season, Gordon has played five of a possible 49 games due to suspensions. The reported reason each time Gordon has been suspended or had a relapse was either marijuana or alcohol.
“Josh feels like he’s been let down by the people closest to him,” Montgomery told the Plain Dealer. “Where Josh comes from, marijuana is considered like a cigarette. That’s just his mentality. Josh has been tossed around. He goes to college and he gets kicked out. Then he goes to the NFL and he gets kicked out. Josh feels like he’s been punished repeatedly for something everyone else is doing.”
The NFL’s rules might be arcane, but they are the rules. And Gordon has not been able to stay clean enough to get reinstated. Montgomery said he thinks Gordon was clean when he wasn’t reinstated in May, but he missed mandatory tests.
It has been so long since Gordon played, it’s hard to envision him back with the Browns. But it’s not like Cleveland couldn’t use him. Gordon was an All-Pro in 2013, leading the NFL in receiving yards in just 14 games. He’s still the youngest person walking the Earth who can claim an NFL receiving yards title. He’s younger than Antonio Brown, Julio Jones or T.Y. Hilton. Cleveland has understandably not been expecting anything out of him, but what a nice bonus he would be to the roster.
The NFL will have to make a decision on his future when he gets out of rehab. It certainly seems like Gordon has been punished more than enough for what he has done.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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