DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Josh Gordon is ready for your drug tests.

Man, the league front office comes in at a close 2nd to the Browns' in disfunctionality . . .

Gordon, NFLPA could seek investigation regarding confidentiality breach

Posted by Mike Florio on April 12, 2016, 11:46 AM EDT

On multiple occasions over the last 24 hours, someone has violated the confidentiality provisions of the substance abuse policy in relation to Browns receiver Josh Gordon.

The first came when someone leaked to FOX Sports, the Associated Press, and NFL Media that Gordon had failed a drug test last month. The second came when someone leaked to Adam Schefter of ESPN that the NFL wants to see Gordon stay clean over the next two or three months before reinstating him.

It’s clear that a violation of the broad confidentiality requirement occurred. Consider Section 1.2.1 of the substance abuse policy: “The Medical Advisor, Medical Director, Program Administrator, Team Substance Abuse Physician, Chief Forensic Toxicologist and all employees and consultants of the NFL, NFL Management Council, NFLPA (including its employees, members and Certified Contract Advisors), Evaluating Clinicians, Treating Clinicians and NFL Clubs (‘Interested Parties’) shall take all reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality of information acquired in accordance with the provisions of this Policy, including but not limited to the history, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, test results, or the fact of participation in the Intervention Program of any Player or the Club(s) employing or having employed the Player (‘Intervention Program Information’).”

Even if the information leaked about Gordon is accurate, the policy prevents dissemination before the official announcement of disciplinary action. Considering the pair of confidentiality breaches in this case, it can be inferred that someone wanted to provide an explanation for the ongoing failure of the league to reinstate Gordon. Absent official disciplinary action, the situation would have lingered without explanation (and with ongoing criticism of the league), possibly for two or three more months.

Still, absent authorization from the player, the confidentiality provision was violated. And the policy calls for fines and/or termination of employment when that occurs.

The real question is whether anything will be done about the fairly obvious breaches of Gordon’s confidentiality rights. Per a league source, discussions between Gordon and the NFL Players Association regarding potential recourse has commenced. Section 1.2.3 of the policy provides that the NFL and NFLPA may agree to retain an independent investigator to explore the situation.

Arguably, the league itself committed a per se violation of the confidentiality provision via the report of the failed test from the league’s in-house media conglomerate. Since NFL Media is the NFL, anything reported by NFL Media is reported by the NFL. And the NFL, in theory, has the ability to request that its employees identify the sources of the information that resulted in the breach.

Before it ever comes to that, the NFL and NFLPA would have to agree to do something about it. At this point, there’s no reason to think that the confidentiality provision will be treated any differently than it ever has been — as words on paper that potentially have some sort of deterrent effect but that ultimately have no teeth because the rule is rarely if ever enforced.

Here we go again..........blame the NFL and poor Josh is now a victim.

Then people wonder why he still smokes and/or hasn't learned his lesson...

It seriously is one big fat joke.

Best case scenario is... Gordon doesn't get reinstated due to the diluted sample with pot traces in it. He gets awarded some settlement or whatever for the breach of confidenalitiy. The nfl/Browns move on from him, and he moves on from us. Get a job you can do what's priority to ya Josh without worrying about drug test or failing them bc ya can't say no.

Do that and let's all freaking call it a day.

I could see this coming a year ago. Just another embarrassment to tarnish the franchise. They need to release Gordon now. We shouldn't have to endure more embarrassment by these two punks.

The Brown's should have cut ties with Gordon after his 2nd suspension two years ago. Pfft what a loser

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming anyone but Gordon for breaking rules.

But you gotta admit, when it comes to handling any of this crap, 9 times out of 10, the league acts and reacts about as inconsistent and baffling as possible. This 2 to 3 months of being clean, no red-flag nonsense makes zero sense.

Gordon being an idiot and the league leaking information that they have no business leaking are two different things.

I don't believe that's true at all Vers.

Josh was being stupid as hell for failing a drug test.... YET AGAIN! I don't see anyone even attempting to deny that. The NFL has no fault in that.

The NFL was acting stupid as hell if they had anything to do with divulging information against the confidentiality policy.

I believe each incident is stupid based on its own merit.

Sometimes both sides of the coin can act like morons.

Josh Gordon’s agent pushing for investigation of confidentiality breach

Posted by Mike Florio on April 12, 2016, 2:14 PM EDT

As of this morning, the NFL Players Association and representatives for Browns receiver Josh Gordon were discussing the possibility of seeking an investigation regarding the leaks of confidential information that have occurred over the past two days. PFT has now learned that Gordon wants something more than discussions.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Gordon’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is pursuing with the NFL Players Association a potential investigation.

On Monday, someone leaked to multiple outlets that Gordon tested positive last month. Specifically, Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports reported that Gordon’s sample (in both the “A” bottle and “B” bottle) were determined to be dilute and “positive for marijuana.”

But the samples weren’t “positive for marijuana.” The amount of marijuana in the samples was below the 35 ng/ml minimum, making them necessarily negative for marijuana. This distinction makes the confidentiality breach more troubling; no one ever should have known that marijuana was found in Gordon’s sample, given that it was below the 35 ng/ml limit.

Likewise, a dilute specimen is technically positive for nothing. The term means that the specimen has a specific gravity value less than 1.003 and a creatinine concentration of less than 20 mg/dL. The NFL’s policy deems the same under these circumstances to be a positive test, even though it’s technically positive for nothing.

On Tuesday, someone leaked to ESPN that the NFL wants to see Gordon get through the next two or three months without another positive test before reinstating him.

Taken together, these reports explain the NFL’s ongoing failure to act on Gordon’s reinstatement application. However, they also constitute separate and clear violations of the confidentiality provision.

If the confidentiality provision is going to be ignored, the league should just get rid of it. Otherwise, it becomes yet another standard that the league enforces only when it wants to, not when it should.

A good team of lawyers might turn this into "Clear Josh Gordon's record, reinstate him and take him out of the substance abuse program for a fresh start".

Never happen but it would be hilarious.

Ignorance is bliss.

If neither of those reports are leaked. Then Gordon gets reinstated in "2-3 months" and everythings gravy..

Until he gets suspended again. Probably.

The league wanted everyone to know that they weren't dragging their feet and that Josh Gordon was the reason this was taking so long.

I understand them not wanting to be blamed, they still shouldn't have leaked any information.

The NFL cannot be trusted with private information (and people wonder why Brady destroyed his cell phone).

So dilute means he was basically trying to beat the test and thanks to the handling of the situation it looks like he might pull that off. I want him on the field, but this is not a good way for him to get here. If he thinks he can just cheat the test he will keep smoking.

I wish they would just allow pot and be done with it.

I wish this FO would just cut the ties and say he'll never play for the Brown's again, ever. Even if he is reinstated.

Why? Because it makes you feel good in this moment?

That is a horrible way to make decisions.

j/c



Link

I'm guessing if you can test that high after 2 months, you can test lower longer.


What exactly was the amount they detected? It said under the limit, but how much under the limit?

If the NFL is going to enforce this, they should use more accurate testing than urinalysis. Especially when just drinking liquids can skew your results. What successful athlete doesn't stay hydrated?

The NFL seems to like using crap science so they can screw over whomever they choose.

If the NFL doesn't like bad headlines, maybe they should stop creating them.

Horrible way to make decisions???..LOL

Oh by all means let's make the decision to stick behind this known pot head that can't seem to go a few mo's without getting busted. Brilliant! He's got our high hopes.

Stick behind? In what way? By saying we don't think about him unless he is not suspended?

Really??? It's the NFL's fault??? You got to be kidding me?

Josh Gordon is never going to quit getting high. It's not a priority to stop for him. For crying out load, he's living with JFF and posting selfies while high. And you guys say it's the NFL leaking this crap? I don't think so.

Josh Gordon has been suspended from the NFL nearly half his pro career. Remind me please when he hasn't been suspended?

The shirt that says it all:

I agree, anyone with access to the test results could have leaked it.

Are you insinuating Gordon and his people released the results? If so, how would that ever benefit them?

No, that's not what I'm sayin' at all. Anyone with access to the test results could have potentially leaked them.

Nobody other than the NFL and Gordon had those results unless one of those parties leaked it.

It would make the NFL look bad because everybody would just assume someone from the NFL side of things leaked it. That could have been done out of spite, or maybe even could be parlayed into favorable treatment of some sort.

I don't think that is what happened-- I'm just answering how it could possibly/maybe benefit them

Mary Kay Cabot ‏@MaryKayCabot 4m4 minutes ago
BREAKING: #Browns Josh Gordon's petition for reinstatement denied, a league source tells http://cleveland.com

CBS.Sportsline Link

"Cleveland.com's report stated that Gordon could later apply for reinstatement but did not specify a date on which he could do so. Pro Football Talk later reported that Gordon could do so on Aug. 1."

Just get rid of this turd. This routine is getting old.

Why would anyone not in the league have access to his test results?

Because privacy is kind of a thing of the past. It is the information age, as they say.

Anyone who actually tested him would know the results (unless it was done anonymously). If the results were discussed by anyone over the Internet? Anyone with access to their phones/computers could leak the info (or hack the info). If the results were discussed with friends or coworkers, or just overheard, even, that could potentially be the leak.

I guess all in all it really doesn't matter who leaked the info, what matters is Josh screwed up once again. History repeats itself. We knew he was a risky pick when we got him.

Yeah, that's terrible. We should resign meathead to a 100 million dollar deal. He's AWESOME! He played GREAT for us last year. Oh wait. He played great for us the year before.... Oh wait. Meathead is the dumbest human on this planet yet guys like you think his return will spell greatness for him and the TEAM. Remember the TEAM? You know, the guys meathead doesn't give a flying fig about? The guys that actually show up, work hard and PLAY on Sunday's? But yeah man, fingers crossed that not only does meathead come back, but the team doesn't bother replacing him because they COUNT on his return. Now THAT would be sweet wouldn't it? *snicker*


I hope meathead never plays again. He's too stupid to be on a football field. He's a danger to himself and others out there. I sure as hell hope and pray he never suits up for the Browns again. We should cut him today on general principle. Letting the entire league know we don't keep guys with IQ's less than 80.

Meathead is exactly the same as Blackmon. If you love meat so much perhaps we should trade for Blackmon. I'm SURE the Jags would give us a good deal on him.

This is the most classic SpiritBro77 post ever. 0 to 60 in less than one sentence.

Well, you can't stand the thought of losing meat...... He's just GOT to stay on the team.... lmao He's SO useful.

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.... Meathead isn't a sow's ear, he's the sphincter. Of what POSSIBLE use could he be to this team? Even if a miracle did occur and he's reinstated you can't COUNT on him. EVER. He hasn't played significant time in three years. He is so out of football shape it would take an entire season for him to be worth spit. If ever. Some guys never make it back from that long a time off. So explain exactlyy WHY we should keep the dumbest man on the planet? Why it's SO terrible an idea to just rid ourselves of this DISTRACTION and get busy rebuilding a TEAM of players that WANT to play football?

I sounds a lot like the "HIPPA" law that allows for a patient's right to privacy regarding his/her health issues.

I spend an overnight in an out of town hospital situation. I had to jump through hoops just so my own doctor could access my medical records from that stay.

I'd left the hospital and gone home and then to my doctor. He couldn't get to my records. I had to go back to that hospital so that I could personally sign a release document in order for my doctor to gain access.

That's crazy. Who the hell cares about my health records? I don't even care if they're private, what's the worst that could happen?

But that's how things are nowadays.

I'm surprised that, with your hate of Josh Gordon and hate of the Browns FO, you're not all about keeping Gordon.

The perfect punishment for Gordon is to continue dealing with the Browns, and vice-versa.

Who said I hate the Browns front office? I'm in wait and see mode. I actually like Hue Jackson. That doesn't mean I'm sold on him as a HC yet. But he's a likeable guy and a talented offensive coach. While I'm dubious as to moneyball working in the NFL and I'm scratching my head about the complete tear down of the roster, I don't HATE the front office. That may well change as the 1-15 season we are about to witness drags on and on and on.... but so far no hate.

I don't HATE meathead. I just see him for what he is. A meathead. Dead from the neck up. A guy who hasn't played significant time in YEARS. Another distraction. One we don't need. Just cut his dumb ass and be done with it..... He's of no use to the team. None. So why on earth keep him on the roster? Makes no sense.