D’Qwell Jackson said recently that he hopes someone helps his former Browns teammate Josh Gordon pick up “the pieces of his life” after a DUI arrest that came while Gordon was facing a potential one-year suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
Gordon’s substance abuse issues date back beyond the start of his professional career and he was kicked off the Baylor football team for failing a drug test and other marijuana-related issues. According to Baylor coach Art Briles, those things won’t stand in the way of the school helping Gordon. Briles told Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt of Sirius XM NFL Radio that he thought Gordon still has a bright future and offered to help the wide receiver realize it.
“Everybody’s different in the world and that’s what makes it so unique and everybody’s got special talents and gifts,” Briles said. “Josh certainly has a tremendous amount of physical talent and intellectual gifts. We all just hope and pray that he’ll be able to get through everything and finally reach his full potential. The thing about Josh that’s so unique is he’s still young, he just turned 23. His future is ahead. He’s going to be judged by everything that’s happened, but he still has a great future ahead and that’s the way he needs to approach the situation. When you’re in our family, you’re always in so we’ll do whatever we can do to help him be successful in his life.”
Briles is right about Gordon having a future in the league if he can keep himself from further violations of NFL rules. He’s also right about Gordon being short of his full potential and it would probably be a good idea for Gordon to talk to Briles, Jackson and anyone else who wants to see him realize it before the doors to that future close.