Suspended Browns receiver Josh Gordon says he wants to get himself off drugs and back in the NFL, and during a recent break from in-patient rehab, Gordon discussed the history of his drug abuse.
Gordon told Uninterrupted that, contrary to the narrative that the NFL banned him for weed, he has in reality been using many drugs, legal and illegal, for many years.
“I’ve used alcohol on many, many occasions, Xanax on many occasions, cocaine several occasions, marijuana most of my life, codeine, cough syrup, methazine -- very prevalent where I’m from. It’s what I grew up using,” Gordon said.
Gordon said people have usually looked past his drug use because he’s such a talented football player. He said at Baylor, in particular, he got away with whatever he wanted to do: A Baylor coach actually gave him a substance he could drink before taking drug tests designed to mask the presence of drugs in his system.
“I’ve been enabled most of my life,” Gordon said. “I’ve been enabled by coaches, teachers, professors, everybody, pretty much, gave me a second chance because of my ability. Not too long after I got arrested for possession of marijuana at Baylor, one of my coaches came by saying, ‘You are going to get drug tested by the compliance office. This is how it’s going to work, this is what they are going to do. If they do call you in, here goes these bottles of detox.’ He showed me how to drink them, showed me how to take them. That was my first experience with getting over on the system and the authority not really being serious because it was being guided by someone who was employed by the university.”
Gordon is eligible to apply for reinstatement but has not yet done so. He says he is invested in getting all the help he needs and will then turn his attention to returning to football. As an incredibly talented player who is just 26 years old, Gordon does have a chance.