Browns wide receiver was busy apologizing for stuff Monday — his two-game suspension, being a Miami Heat fan — but said as he reported to camp that his mission were clear.
“My priorities are definitely in order, definitely in line,” Gordon said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal. “I still got a job to come out here and do every day. I’ve got to be accountable and be a grown man, help provide for me and my family. So I do definitely have my priorities in order.”
Of course, it’ll be a little harder to provide without the four game checks he’s also missing, as a result of violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Gordon apparently made several references to his statement from June, insisting the test was for codeine, and that the league’s levying less than the maximum punishment was a sign in his favor.
Asked if he had a substance abuse issue, Gordon replied: “It wasn’t recreational use.”
“The fact that it happened, it was beyond me,” Gordon said. “It was one of those things you just really couldn’t control. The statement of it actually already came out in my previous statement in June, and there’s not too much I can comment on.”
Of course, Gordon’s track record, which includes multiple failed marijuana tests in college, casts the suspension in a different light.
“It’s something that’s in the past,” Gordon said. “It’s still going to gloom over me for a long time. But I’ve still got a long way to go, a lot to prove to the fans here, to the people here. It’s just another obstacle in my way of getting there.”
Whether he’s able to clear those obstacles remains to be seen, but he should know he has to be more vigilant.
He was given a second chance for those college issues by a previous administration, but now has a new coach and personnel department to prove himself to, along with a Browns fan base which he’s irritated for several reasons.