Cleveland Browns: Josh Gordon set to repay team’s patience

After serving nearly three-years worth of suspensions from the NFL, Josh Gordon is ready to start paying the Cleveland Browns back for their patience

There probably isn’t any other team in the NFL that would be as patient with wide receiver Josh Gordon as the Cleveland Browns have been.

Since taking the former Baylor wide out in the second round of the 2012 Supplemental Draft, Gordon has shown flashes of brilliance but it’s been overshadowed by off-field issues.

Gordon was suspended for what amounted to just about three years. He missed all of 2015 and 2016 and didn’t return to the field until late last season.

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While fans were happy to have him back, there was understandable concern as they just wanted to get through an offseason without hearing anything negative from Gordon’s camp.

That’s exactly what’s happened and he now enters the minicamp portion of the offseason with a clean record — many clean drug tests — and a feeling that he belongs.

Gordon feels like this year he will show the Browns they did the right thing being patient with him when most franchises would have cut bait. He credits the team for building a support system around him that’s helped him become a better person:

"“People going over and beyond, out of their way, whether I reached out and asked for it or not, people just checking in, and I couldn’t ask for anything more than that in an organization. Just anybody that’s a friend or cares about a human being.” — Gordon, via Author: Matthew Florjancic, WKYC.com"

The 27-year old receiver also talked about how being a father helped him get his life in order as he wants to be able to push himself farther because of his family.

That sounds similar to another Browns players. Rookie receiver Antonio Callaway also discussed how being a father is helping him to keep his life on track after suspensions at Florida and a failed drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Hopefully Callaway finds the same support Gordon has and can keep himself on track. Doing so would reward the team for taking a risk on him this season.

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As for Gordon, the 2013 NFL receiving yardage leader is set to pay them back for being overly patient.