Roger Goodell Has Dealt a Knockout Blow to Josh Gordon’s NFL Career
A month ago, Josh Gordon seemed on track to return to the Seattle Seahawks.
Now, his NFL career might be over.
For a player with such rare physical skills, Gordon has such little to show for it. Although he garners attention simply because of his name recognition, the fact remains that he hasn’t come close to replicating the success he had in his second season with the Cleveland Browns.
And once again, his disciplinary issues have led to an unfortunate outcome. In fact, Roger Goodell has delivered a knockout blow that could very well spell the end of Gordon’s frustrating NFL career.
Josh Gordon looked like a Hall of Fame talent…in 2013
As he approaches his 30th birthday, Josh Gordon probably wishes he could turn the clock back to 2013. After all, that represented the top of the mountain for the talented wide receiver.
Following a promising rookie season that included 60 catches for 805 yards and five touchdowns, Flash Gordon arrived.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound playmaker torched defensive backs with a rare combination of size and speed that proved too much to stop. Despite playing just 14 games, he led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards. Gordon also set career-highs in catches (87) and touchdowns (nine) in his age-22 campaign.
At that point, it seemed like the fast, physical wideout had a chance to become the next Randy Moss.
But that never happened.
Instead, Gordon’s disciplinary issues derailed his promising NFL career.
Discipline issues have kept the talented wide receiver off the field
Suspensions have become synonymous with Josh Gordon’s name ever since the 2014 season.
A DWI arrest just before the start of training camp resulted in a season-long suspension that later got reduced to 10 games. However, the Browns later suspended Gordon for the final four games of the season due to a violation of team rules.
He missed the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons as a result of violations of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
Although he played five games with the Browns in 2017, Cleveland shipped the enigmatic pass-catcher to the New England Patriots in September 2018. Gordon didn’t look like his old self, but he did catch 40 passes for 720 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games.
Yet, after stepping away from the team in late December, he got suspended indefinitely by the NFL for violating the terms of his reinstatement per the league’s substance-abuse policy.
After getting cut by the Patriots on Halloween 2019, he got claimed by the Seahawks. But on Dec. 21, Roger Goodell suspended Gordon for the fifth time for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs and substance abuse.
Roger Goodell just dealt a knockout blow to Gordon’s NFL career
Josh Gordon caught seven passes for 139 yards in five games with the Seahawks in 2019.
He didn’t play a single snap this past season.
Although Seattle added the veteran receiver to its active roster back on Dec. 21, Gordon never ended up getting on the field. A day later, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times reported that the Seahawks WR did not satisfy the terms of his conditional reinstatement from suspension.
Later that day, Tom Pelissero of The NFL Network reported that Gordon “had a setback in his battle with substance abuse” and that he wouldn’t be allowed to practice or play indefinitely.
On Friday, though, Field Yates of ESPN delivered an even more ominous update about Gordon’s availability moving forward.
Let’s just say it seems like Roger Goodell has dealt a knockout blow to the 29-year-old’s NFL career.
“Seahawks WR Josh Gordon’s conditional reinstatement has been rescinded and he is now suspended indefinitely again,” Yates tweeted.
Given his lengthy history of disciplinary issues, it seems highly unlikely that another NFL team will take a chance on such a high-risk player. Gordon may have looked like a star early in his career, but it’s been nearly a decade since he earned his first (and only) Pro Bowl berth. He’s played a total of 28 games since 2017. And he’s only caught four touchdowns since leaving Cleveland.
At this point, the juice simply isn’t worth the squeeze.
And unless Goodell somehow gives Gordon yet another chance, don’t expect one of the most talented receiver in league history to ever set foot on an NFL field again.
All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
