Perhaps you’ve read this once or twice or seven times before, but suspended wide receiver Josh Gordon plans to apply for reinstatement, ESPN reported Wednesday.
Gordon was conditionally reinstated in time to participate in training camp with the Browns last season, and part of that deal was a suspension for the first four games of 2016. Before he could be activated, though, he entered a rehab facility and remained under indefinite suspension.
Gordon’s business manager, Michael Johnson, told ESPN that “Josh is living with me and is in the best place mentally that he has been in dating back years before entering the NFL. He has taken the proper steps to treat his issues and has followed a very strict protocol that the league and our team here has laid out for him.
“He’s also in the best shape of his life and feels even better than he did when he had his breakout year in 2013. This will be a special year for Josh and we are all very proud of the way he has taken the necessary steps to turn his life around.”
Gordon has been posting workout pictures and videos to his social media accounts. Those making the decision at the NFL, though, won’t be interested in that. Gordon is a multiple-time offender and would have to prove to the NFL that he can stay clean.
He’s served some sort of suspension in each of the last four seasons. A drug policy change made him eligible to play the final six games of 2014, and he was suspended for all of 2015. He led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards in 2013 despite missing the first two games due to a suspension that was cut down by appeal from four games. The Browns still hold the rights to Gordon, who turns 26 in April, but nothing thus far has changed regarding his indefinite suspension.
An NFL spokesman told Cleveland.com Wednesday that the league had no comment on Gordon’s latest reinstatement bid.