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Browns' Josh Gordon suspended one year by NFL
7

NFL.com
Published: Feb. 3, 2015 at 06:13 p.m.

Josh Gordon will not suit up for an NFL game in 2015.

The often-troubled wide receiver has been suspended without pay for at least one year by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The suspension begins immediately.

Around The NFL will have more on the story shortly.

What odds would you guys put at him never playing another down in the NFL?

Off the top of my head, 7-1.

The Browns did not immediately cut ties with Gordon, but General Manager Ray Farmer made it clear in a statement that Gordon's NFL career is on life support.
"As we have conveyed, we are disappointed to once again be at this point with Josh," Farmer said in the statement. "Throughout his career we have tried to assist him in getting support like we would with any member of our organization. Unfortunately our efforts have not resonated with him. It is evident that Josh needs to make some substantial strides to live up to the positive culture we are trying to build this football team upon. Our hope is that this suspension affords Josh the opportunity to gain some clarity in determining what he wants to accomplish moving forward and if he wants a career in the Nation Football League. We will have no further comment on Josh as he will not be permitted in our facility for the duration of his suspension."

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-brow...e-year-1.564014

Woo hoo....It just gets better and BeTtEr being a bRoWnS FaN......As I go screaming into the nightttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt...........

I'm torn between letting it play out due to owning his rights on a peanuts contract, and just cutting him to let the world know you're done with these clowns.

Haslam did say publicly that he promised the veterans of this team we were going to get rid of people that weren't ready to work.

Prudent choice is A...but B would make me feel better.

come on man!!! we are browns fans. do you really think good things can happen to our team???

"Hey, Josh....

-how much extra, if I get the interior in rich Corinthian leather?"

That was back when he still had the afterglow of a monster season on him.

At this rate it'll be more like "Hey, Josh, I ordered no onion."

guys....

can we ever catch a break? like seriously? every off season, it's something else.

what did we do to deserve this?

Draft people with glaring character issues over and over for the last fifteen years?

I think Robet DeNiro said it best in the movie a Bronx Tale.


“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that you make will shape your life forever.”

The problem is Josh probably reads these forums. In so doing, he probably gets down on himself due to all the negativity and feels a need to escape, henceforth his use of whatever it is he uses. I think a lot of the blame rests with some of the posters on these forums.

"I like the car and everything, but does it come in Orange?"

I think it is insane to blame the posters on the board. He is a adult, professional athlete. The browns have offered him support. He has been trouble since college and the Browns took a chance on him, it hasn't panned out,but to blame the board is crazy. Josh needs accountability,he can be a pro-bowler or a bust, its his call.

Meh.

If anyone wants to remain in a clinically depressed state, they read these boards. Maybe I should take up pot and alcohol like Josh...Naaaaaa, I love the misery too much.

Yep, this. It's not like his issues weren't known...

Shocked, not.

For real?! LMFAO...for real.

Agreed SB. Here's a thought. Maybe we could get a good lawyer and sue for all the harassement we have to take as Browns fans; from everybody and everywhere.

What is it with people trying to blame others rather than expect accountability from the one who keeps messing up?

It's his millions he's blowing. It's his career he's wasting away. He's been making the same stupid mistakes since college and we weren't even there. How people can refuse to hold Josh accountable for the ruin of his own life is unbelievable.

This is why we can't have nice things!

hahahaha

As I said before, most of you guys must have been real jerks in your previous life.

Well, this is what was expected.

I wonder if he even realizes just how much money he has smoked and drank away?

He could have been heading into the final year of his rookie contract ..... and ready to have a huge year and go grab a $10 million/year deal ...... except for the fact that he did things that got him suspended 3 different times, and proved him to be an unreliable player. Even if he manages, somehow, to turn things around. and stay away from the drugs and alcohol. at best he'll be back to having 2 years left on his rookie deal. At worst, the Browns will decide to cut ties with him, and take legal action to recoup some of his signing bonus. He might need to sell his own car if that happens.

What a sad waste of talent. He has more physical talent than almost any other WR in the NFL. He just glides, and has hands that just envelope a football. He can run away from almost anyone, (except, evidently, himself) and make it look easy. He is so physically gifted, and yet he has just tried time and again to throw everything he has into the trash.

I just have this feeling that he is going to wake up one of these days, about 20 years from now, when he has nothing left, and he's back living where he grew up, and wonder why he was so dumb.

Man, if I had the physical talent that kid has, I'd be working every minute of the day to be the greatest of all time. That just doesn't seem to matter at all to Josh though. It is just really sad. It also sucks for us, because he, legitimately, has/had the potential to be a Hall of Fame caliber player.

Former Browns coach Sam Rutigliano: Josh Gordon should follow Johnny Manziel's lead and seek treatment

The forerunner: Before there was an NFL substance abuse program; or a Stage 1, 2 and 3; or a league Medical Director; or indefinite suspensions and player appeals and lawyers; there was the Inner Circle.

That was the name of the drug and alcohol intervention program devised in 1980 by Browns coach Sam Rutigliano and Dr. Greg Collins of the Cleveland Clinic. It was one of a kind. The league wasn’t involved. The Browns were the only team helping their players deal with drug and alcohol addiction.

“We had nine players in it,” Rutigliano said. “And every one of them made it. Just 2-3 years ago, I went to a big function of a company one of our guys was working for and he introduced me and said to all of them, ‘This is Coach Sam, and he saved my life.’ That was overwhelming.”

So when Rutigliano sees that Johnny Manziel has entered “treatment,” he knows what the 22-year-old quarterback is in store for. Brad Beckworth, who is described as a Manziel family adviser, did not specify what Manziel is being treated for. But Manziel’s notorious partying captured the past year on the Internet suggests that, at the least, alcohol is involved.

“It’s going to be very, very difficult,” Rutigliano said. “The Browns have to be heavily involved making sure that he stays on course. This is not 30 days and I’m OK. That’s just the beginning.

“He’s going to go for 30 days and he’s going to come back to where he was. I think it takes a whole year. I’ve been through it.”

Saving lives: Rutigliano has told the story of the inception of the Inner Circle for 35 years.

“One of the players who was living in Berea came into my office and said, ‘Coach, can I talk to you?’ He closed the door and said he lived in an apartment in Berea and had gone on the sixth floor on the roof and for the last week or two just wanted to jump off the roof and commit suicide,” Rutigliano said.

Rutigliano got Collins involved and also highly trusted men such as Yale graduate Calvin Hill, a popular role player on the team, and Hall of Famer Paul Warfield, who was working in personnel at the time. Rutigliano informed the whole team what was going on and invited other players to counseling sessions.

He guaranteed them anonymity. They trusted him, partially because they had no one else. They met once a week for 52 weeks.

Soon, Rutigliano received a cold call from a player with the Minnesota Vikings.

“He said if you don’t call ‘so and so’ he’s gonna be dead. That player was (Browns running back) Charlie White.

“I called Charlie White in California. He came to my office and he denied everything. I told him I’m a guy helping you to get to Dr. Collins. I said, ‘It’s 3 o’clock and if you’re not there by 3:30, it’s over. Your career is over.’”

White later “came out” and talked publicly about his participation. None of the other identities were made public. Rutigliano went to a league meeting in Hawaii to apprise Commissioner Pete Rozelle and other club owners what was happening with the Browns. Rozelle suggested publicizing the story – without names -- and set up an interview with a New York sportswriter.

“It worked,” Rutigliano said of the Inner Circle. “And nobody copied us. A lot of coaches questioned why we were doing this. A few thought I was so involved with the Inner Circle that I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing in coaching. That’s not true. As a matter of fact, the guys we saved were guys that played a long time and made a tremendous impact for the Browns.”

Johnny and Josh: Rutigliano, 81, has continued to live in Lake County since he was fired by the Browns in 1984. He retired from coaching at Liberty University in 1999.

From a distance, he observed Manziel and receiver Josh Gordon, a multiple offender of the NFL drug program, and concluded that they both have addiction problems. Gordon denied it in an open letter addressed to critics in the national media and posted on the Website, The Cauldron.

“My experience with it was that part of drugs and alcohol, and if you’re cross-addicted, they’re all pathological liars. That’s part of the sickness,” Rutigliano said.

He believes that Gordon should follow Manziel’s lead and submit to treatment “yesterday … right now.”

Rutigliano noted the stark difference in upbringing between Manziel, who comes from a well-to-do oil family in Kerrville, Texas, and Gordon, who grew up in poverty without a father in a drug-ridden neighborhood in Houston.

“Johnny Manziel probably finally made up his mind and if he had waited a half hour later, he probably wouldn’t have done it,” Rutigliano said. “He has everything – a mother, father, and so forth.

“Look at Josh Gordon, that poor kid, what he’s done with the opportunity he’s had. And the worst part about it is he’s not a bad kid. But it’s the drugs or the alcohol.

“When he had that big season a year ago, playing 14 games and breaking records, you would think after that, and seeing the big raise (cornerback) Joe Haden got … he had the opportunity of a lifetime, and he continues to throw it away. The kid’s sick. When you have appendicitis, you don’t go to a dentist. You’ve got to go to the right people.

“It’s going to take a long time. It’s going to take forever.”

http://espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&action=blog&r=17&post_id=41901

He will never play again. I was like him when I was young. I lost everything that mattered to me, then began blaming that for the reason I was the way I was. I feel for him because you can never get it back. It took me 10 years, I can see him doing the same.

And he's not even the worst of our illustrious return to the NFL.

We drafted a guy who was the lead suspect in a robbery/shooting. He left a bloody finger print at the crime scene. We drafted him, he got arrested.

We honestly would've been better off these last 15 years letting a computer algorithm draft based on draft guide input.

Haslam should get Google on the phone and inquire about a Draft Bot.

Can't be any worse, really.

Then you'll get it a loogie.

Marijuana causes dry mouth.

That's why there is beer.

The smoke bone is connected to the drink bone

jc... I'm pretty sure Homewood Dog was joking.

Anyway I agree that Josh should follow Johnny's lead and check into rehab. Josh's previous stint in rehab, per the other thread, was for one day. Sorry but that's a joke. He should check into rehab even if he's sure he doesn't need to. Maybe he's wrong and even if not, it would go a long way toward correcting some bad habits, and will look good for him when he goes to apply for reinstatement into the league. Remember that he banished from the league, and the commissioner has sole discretion on whether or not to reinstate him, and the NFL's statement made it very clear that the suspension was for "at least" one year.

Not only should he do a month in rehab, he should change other facets of his life. That means living a life of sobriety, avoiding nightlife like the plague, and getting rid of friends who don't support him in doing so. This might even mean not hanging out with teammates who very well might be good people, but who have more discipline and who aren't in stage three of the substance abuse program (including alcohol testing) and banished from the league. Josh needs to find new ways to have fun. This might be hard for a 23 year old to come to terms with but that is the position he has put himself in.

He should seek out help and advice from certain teammates and players/personnel from around the league and who have been in the league. How about Joe Thomas? Alex Mack? On defense, Karlos Dansby, Donte Whitner, and I know there are others. I'm sure any one of them would help Josh, if Josh made an honest effort to turn things around and expressed some remorse for his actions. Why not take up Cris Carter's offer of help after spending 28 days in rehab? He has wisdom and life experiences far beyond what Josh has and it was foolish to call the man out publicly.

For Josh to have a long, successful NFL career, he is going to have to avoid drugs and alcohol for years. This is a pretty large task for someone in his position. My advice is, just make it until tomorrow. This is advice along what Belichick has to say-- what can you do right now, today, to make yourself better? Well, for Josh, that means don't use alcohol or drugs right now. Make it until tomorrow. For something a bit more structured, maybe the "Don't Break the Chain" Method described here http://lifehacker.com/5890129/five-best-productivity-methods would be helpful (I use the GTD for my main organizational system and highly recommend it, but that wouldn't really apply to this specific situation.)

I'm sure he will have to make some other life adjustments as well, like working a lot harder for a lot less money to sell cars or whatever. He will have to workout and stay in shape on top of that. He should actually learn the offense and playbook to the extent that it is made available to him. It's completely embarrassing when an NFL receiver doesn't know what routes to run and that just comes down to lack of effort and lack of pride in one's craft.

Anyway that's about what I would do in Josh's situation. I doubt he will ever read this specific post but I'm sure he is getting similar advice from a variety of people. The onus is on him to make the changes necessary to ensure that he doesn't have another failed test for drugs or alcohol, to get his life together, and ultimately return as an effective football player (meaning 2013 Josh Gordon, not 2014.)

He went for two weeks, and later described it as 'hippie [expletive]".

Thanks for the correction.

I can't help but think that maybe if he took it a little bit more seriously, he wouldn't be in the position he's in.

I can't help but think he blames the NFL drug policy more than he looks in the mirror.

Excellent article.

Will you post it in the Manziel thread? It addresses many things that some people are denying.

Yes, it was excellent. Sam was ahead of his time...

Sure Ray, last years suspension didn't "resonate" with meathead, but this one will surely give him some "clarity". *snicker* Surely you aren't that stupid?
But hey, just keep hanging on to the guy. Be absolutely CERTAIN that every single player knows that it doesn't matter HOW many times you're suspended, the Browns will keep hanging on.... Way to "change the culture" LMAO.

Now, be sure to stick to you guns and don't replace good old meathead. Our receiving corp is perfect as is.... *snicker*

Meathead isn't going to change. He doesn't WANT to. He is perfectly happy not playing football. He doesn't care about football. He doesn't care about the Browns. He is a complete and total idiot. I don't call him meathead for giggles, he IS "DEAD FROM THE NECK UP". Rehab will ONLY work for those that REALLY want to change. And are willing to put in the WORK it takes TO change. Rehab isn't some magic place where a fairy waves a magic wand and you're suddenly cured of addiction. Rehab is just the very beginning of a LIFETIME of EFFORT at being sober. Meathead isn't going to put in that kind of effort. I seriously doubt Johnny Hype will either. I will be shocked to learn that rehab is anything more than a publicity stunt for Johnny boy. Hope I'm wrong, but I'll believe it when I see it.

They tried to make meat go to rehab, but he said no no no, yes he'll be back, the Browns won't sack(him), so he won't go go go, he ain't got the time, and if Ray Farmer starts to whine, they'll try to make meat go to rehab but he'll say no no no....

If Ricky Williams could play in the league again then so can Josh.