When it comes to the potential suspension of Browns receiver Josh Gordon, not much is known. But clarity finally has been achieved on one key point regarding Gordon’s status.
As explained by Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer during a Tuesday visit to PFT Live, Gordon was in Stage 3 of the substance-abuse program at the time of his most recent alleged violation.
The highest level of the program, Stage 3 happens only after multiple violations of the policy. Under the terms of the policy, the player remains in Stage 3 for the rest of his career. The league may test him up to 10 times per month; he has the ability to make an annual request to have the frequency of the testing reduced.
Gordon’s current predicament may have resulted from a positive test or some other violation of the policy. Either way, the policy provides that a violation results in a banishment for a minimum of one year.
Regardless of whether Gordon can avoid a suspension or negotiate a shorter ban, he continues to be one strike away from the kind of violation that could knock him out for a full season. By getting himself so close to a one-year suspension less than two years after arriving in Cleveland via the supplemental draft, it’s hard not to think that a one-year suspension is inevitable.
The full segment, which started predictably with plenty of talk about Johnny Manziel a/k/a Johnny Football a/k/a Johnny Cleveland a/k/a Johnny Vegas, can be seen with a simple click in the correct spot below.