Josh Gordon suspended by NFL… again
Seattle Seahawks’ wide receiver Josh Gordon has once again been suspended by the National Football League for PEDs and substance abuse. The league announced an indefinite suspension for Gordon. It is his sixth career suspension (5th for substance abuse) and comes almost exactly one year after he was suspended for violating the terms of his reinstatement.
Gordon was a supplemental draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2012 . His previous struggles with substance abuse have been widely reported. At Baylor, he was suspended indefinitely for marijuana use, which led him to transfer to Utah. He sat out a year, then declared for the supplemental draft without ever playing a down for the Utes.
He had a promising rookie season and established himself as one of the league’s best young receiving talents. However, he would face suspensions for the next few years.
In 2013, Gordon was suspended for 2 games for substance abuse. The next season, he had a year long suspension reduced to 10 games. He missed the 2015 season with another year-long suspension for substance abuse.
In January 2016, his initial application for reinstatement was denied after he failed a drug test. He was reinstated 7 months later with a 4 game suspension but entered a rehab facility just as the suspension was ending. He would spend most of the 2017 season on the Commissioner’s Exempt list after another failed reinstatement application.
The Browns decided to cut Gordon loose after one game in the 2018 season, believing they had done all they could to help him. They traded him to the Patriots for a 5th round pick. He stepped way later that season to focus on his mental health and faced an indefinite ban from the league. He returned this season but was waived after being placed on IR.
Gordon was claimed by Seattle 6 weeks ago and played in 5 games.
It’s no secret that Gordon is a tremendous talent and difference-maker on the football field, but you have to wonder if this was his last chance. With so many prior offenses for the same issue, we may have seen the last of Josh Gordon on a football field.
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