Rumor: Josh Gordon went to rehab, still eyeing return to NFL
By Thomas Moore
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon remains on the league’s suspension list, but he reportedly went to rehab over the summer in a bid to change that.
Another day, another report in the ongoing saga of suspended Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon.
Gordon, who has not played a regular season game since December of 2014, has reportedly taken another small step on his never-ending journey to be reinstated to the NFL following numerous violations of the league’s substance abuse policy.
This time, Gordon spent time in a rehab facility earlier this summer and remains hopeful of making a return to the field this fall, according to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole:
Optimistic note on WR Josh Gordon: Sources said went to rehab 2 months ago in cooperation w/ #NFL in hopes of being reinstated in late Sept
— Jason Cole (@JasonCole62) August 25, 2017
It is the latest “news” about Gordon’s time in exile and follows a familiar pattern. A Tweet – often from Gordon – or an unnamed source will offer a glimmer of hope, fans will get fired up, and then nothing will happen.
Related: Josh Gordon’s Twitter sets fans’ hearts aflutter
It was just a little more than a week ago when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell set off a wave of speculation when asked about Gordon. Goodell’s reply? That Gordon’s reinstatement was “not under active consideration.”
Earlier this month Gordon sent out the following Tweet that people automatically assumed that his return was imminent:
https://twitter.com/JOSH_GORDONXII/status/893509020732055557
And, still, nothing.
Gordon was suspended for the first two games of the 2013 season, followed that up with an 11-game suspension for the 2014 season, and went all the way with a season-long suspension in 2015.
Related: Roger Goodell slows down talk of Josh Gordon’s return
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It looked as if Gordon just might come back last season, as he was conditionally reinstated by the NFL and was scheduled to return following a four-game suspension to open the season. That all fell apart after he entered a rehab facility and has remained on the suspended list ever since.
Put it all together, and Gordon has only played in 19 of Cleveland’s last 64 games due to suspensions.
If the latest news is true, then it is a good sign for Gordon as a person. His latest rehab visit is reportedly his fourth, and hopefully this one helped where the previous ones may not have. This has always been about Gordon getting better as a person, and it sounds like he may be on the right track.
As for the football side of things, it remains hard to see the Browns sitting around waiting on a player who has been nothing but unreliable since being selected in the 2012 Supplemental Draft. Executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown and head coach Hue Jackson have worked tirelessly to change the culture of the team and cut ties to previous headaches, and a case can be made that Gordon falls into that category.
None of it really matters at the moment, of course, because Gordon remains on the league’s suspended list and his reinstatement is neither imminent or a lock.
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Everyone should be hoping he is conquering his demons and the rest will take care of itself in due time.