Some good words from Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown must have paid off, because Monday the National Football League officially re-instated suspended Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon, though they did tack on a four-game suspension.
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Gordon will be suspended for the first four games of the season, but he is eligible to play for the Browns in the preseason and be with the team during his suspension, becoming eligible to play in week 5, when the Browns face the New England Patriots.
The Browns placed Gordon on the active/non-football injury list.
“I’m blessed and grateful to be granted this opportunity”, he wrote Monday night in a long statement posted on Twitter.
If Gordon is able to stay out of trouble and contribute to the team’s passing game that is desperately in need of playmakers, Cleveland Browns fans can look forward to an exciting Browns offence this coming 2016-2017 season. He was denied reinstatement in April after failing a drug test because of samples that also tested positive for marijuana.
Gordon, who didn’t play in 2015 because of violation of league substance abuse policy was also suspended for most of the 2014 season for a DUI arrest.
“As we discussed at our (July 19) meeting, as Commissioner, I want nothing more than to see you turn your circumstances around and succeed”, Goodell said. Gordon also met with Browns vice president Sashi Brown, coach Hue Jackson and others within the organization.
“But as you acknowledged, ultimately, your future is your responsibility”. Unless he’s really out of shape or doesn’t get along with Jackson, Gordon should find himself as the #1 option on the team pretty quickly. He started only five games previous year before suffering his second concussion and being shut down and is determined to return to his Pro Bowl form of 2013 and ’14.
Gordon has missed 27 of a possible 32 games the past two seasons.
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With his situation unclear, the Browns selected Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman in the first round of this year’s draft. The fact that he played with QB Robert Griffin III could help too.
