Gordon suspension reduced to 10, 12 if convicted of DWI

There are three big issues I have with all this:

1) The draconian suspension. This is a league that punishes wife beaters for two games and kids who get free tattoos in college for five games - while not testing for HGH. Roger Goodell has gotten involved in the morality business and he looks like a fucking idiot. On top of that: Please don't respond with "the players agreed to it." CBA's are incredibly complex, negotiated agreements and we have no idea what was offered in return for the players to accept a stupid weed policy when they would have looked incredibly dumb for fighting against it at a time when the public just wants to see some football. But we do know that Goodell pushed for it. This is a guy who wants to penalize players for using profanity on the field but won't say shit about one of his teams using the name Redskins.

2) The length of the appeal. I assume the league was trying to a) bury this on one of the slowest news weeks of the year and b) send a message that appeals will only result in delayed suspensions that will harm the team for not one, but two seasons. This is all about doubling down on the stupidity of bullet point one.

3) Not allowing the team to have access to Gordon during the suspension. This is clearly not about rehabbing a player. It is not about helping someone overcome a potential addiction. It is all about showing these guys on unguaranteed contracts how replaceable they are. It is indicative of the contempt Goodell has for anyone that dares to question how he operates while hiding behind bullshit boilerplate about protecting the NFL's "Shield."

If you can't tell, I think Roger Goodell is a jackass and the league is operating in a different decade.

As long as the corrupt organization that is the NFL allows wife beaters, rapists, murderers, coke heads, juicers, head hunters, etc roam free while banning players for harmlessly smoking weed, it will always be a joke to me.

Honestly, my biggest issue here is trying to determine what purpose the suspension serves... Is the purpose of the NFL ruling committee to punish players, or is it to help them? Take Gordon off the field for a year, that's a solid punishment. Reduce his salary to a living wage, make him keep showing up to work with the practice squad, and keep him involved in team activities, that would help set him straight.

Throwing him to the curb for a year is a death sentence. He very well may never play another snap in the NFL, or if he does it might be in 5 years after really hitting rock bottom, and he'll be a shadow of what he was. I hope for Josh's sake he figures it out, but the player's union should be up in arms about this: The NFL isn't doing anything to advance the health of the player in this situation.

MalTalm said:

Honestly, my biggest issue here is trying to determine what purpose the suspension serves... Is the purpose of the NFL ruling committee to punish players, or is it to help them? Take Gordon off the field for a year, that's a solid punishment. Reduce his salary to a living wage, make him keep showing up to work with the practice squad, and keep him involved in team activities, that would help set him straight.

Throwing him to the curb for a year is a death sentence. He very well may never play another snap in the NFL, or if he does it might be in 5 years after really hitting rock bottom, and he'll be a shadow of what he was. I hope for Josh's sake he figures it out, but the player's union should be up in arms about this: The NFL isn't doing anything to advance the health of the player in this situation.

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This is where his agency comes into play, taking it out of the hands of the team. It's a flawed system to be sure, but at least he's got people trying to get him on the straighter path (even if it is related to them getting paid along with him).

Orange Julius said:

No Gordon means 8 in the box. Browns are screwed.

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Did Jordan Cameron disappear?

Eventually... the rest of the team outside of the quarterbacks will be very good. Josh was a big part of that, but even with him out of the equation, we are getting closer and closer to fielding a very strong team. Once we finally find that missing piece at QB the team is going to go from a doormat to a contender immediately. I just hope we don't take so long to find that QB that can take us to the next level, that the good players on the rest of the team start leaving. Thank god we have Farmer to keep the talent level soaring.

Amherstcavsfan said:

Did Jordan Cameron disappear?

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Being the only threat on offense might make him disappear.

There's no one to blame but Gordon, he knew the rules and broke them 3 times, this is the result.

I will be shocked if we win more than 4 games.

It really upsets me that in all of this, it's blatantly obvious that the NFL doesn't care about Josh Gordon the person.

There is absolutely NO reason to keep him away from the team's facilities. The league will only reinstate him if he shows progress, goes to rehab etc. yet they're barring him from the biggest support structure he has right now. Losing a season's worth of games and checks is plenty.

It took them 6 months to decide on the suspension, it took them a month to decide on his appeal yet Gordon's punishment starts today meaning they can keep him out of next year's pre-season if they so choose.

A suspension should be part punishment, part rehabilitation. This one is "Hey Josh, we're cutting off your funds, cutting off your involvement in the team and maybe if you're lucky and stay out of trouble without any support system, we'll let you back for next pre-season."

This suspension serves no purpose other than to brutally punish Gordon and make an example of him regardless of whether it causes him to spiral even further out of control. All for smoking weed. He'd have been better off knocking the drug tester unconscious. Well done Mr. Commissioner.

Any other job, Talm, and Gordon is out on his ass after two failed drug tests let alone 4. If he was a healthcare professional his license would have been suspended for the codeine violation alone. The NFL cannot make his health a priority when he doesn't. The punishment is an incentive for him to get his shit together, a wake up call after the 3 prior slaps on the wrist, and counseling offers, and warnings, and 2 game suspension failed to get through. They tried the nice route, he hasn't gotten it. Now the tough love begins, and that tough love is a year of his career and earnings lost. Good luck to him, he needs it.

and the real draconian thing here is all the fans making excuses for him- just because he won't be catching passes for your favorite football team. You care even less than the NFL does for his health, because if you really gave a shit, you would want to see the guy get help. He is failing drug tests for multiple drugs, can't control his weed smoking like the rest of the fucking league does, is getting DUIs, and has his family concerned about his decisions. None of this is isolated. Yet all fans care is if he plays on Sunday. Give me a break from this 'high and mighty' crap regarding the NFL when the only motivation for being upset that Gordon has to face consequences for a 4th drug test fail is because it hurts your favorite NFL team.

AZ_ said:

Not sure why people are freaking out about subpar DB play outside of Haden, haven't see a ton of evidence of that.

Gilbert looks like he's getting better and better.

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....are we watching the same games?

NtG said:

....are we watching the same games?

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It wouldn't surprise me if we weren't.

macbdog said:

Any other job, Talm, and Gordon is out on his ass after two failed drug tests let alone 4. If he was a healthcare professional his license would have been suspended for the codeine violation alone. The NFL cannot make his health a priority when he doesn't. The punishment is an incentive for him to get his shit together, a wake up call after the 3 prior slaps on the wrist, and counseling offers, and warnings, and 2 game suspension failed to get through. They tried the nice route, he hasn't gotten it. Now the tough love begins, and that tough love is a year of his career and earnings lost. Good luck to him, he needs it.

and the real draconian thing here is all the fans making excuses for him- just because he won't be catching passes for your favorite football team. You care even less than the NFL does for his health, because if you really gave a shit, you would want to see the guy get help. He is failing drug tests for multiple drugs, can't control his weed smoking like the rest of the fucking league does, is getting DUIs, and has his family concerned about his decisions. None of this is isolated. Yet all fans care is if he plays on Sunday. Give me a break from this 'high and mighty' crap regarding the NFL when the only motivation for being upset that Gordon has to face consequences for a 4th drug test fail is because it hurts your favorite NFL team.

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It's not the punishment that's the problem (well ok, it is but the rules are what they are right now), it's the fact that the NFL thinks substance abuse is a serious enough problem to warrant year-long suspensions but is removing Gordon from his support structure to do it.

Why keep him away from the team's facilities? I mean, what the hell do they think is going to happen to him now? Take away his money, take away his career, keep him away from the team (who is only interested in helping him) and send him out on the street for a year. Do you think that will lead him to re-dedicate himself after being removed from everything good in his life or will it cause him to fall into the old habits and people who caused him to fuck up?

16 games of suspension and game checks is PLENTY of punishment for smoking weed. Why remove him from the only positive structure in his life right now? There is no point in rubbing a guy's nose in his own shit so hard that he suffocates.

I would expect a lawsuit along with a TRO