Gordon flashed on the NFL scene shredding secondaries up and down the league.
In 2013 he piled on a Madden-esque 1,600+ yards in 14 games. Now his future is without clarity after a league denial for his reinstatement. ESPN has more.
The NFL has denied Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon’s application for reinstatement, a league source told ESPN’s Pat McManamon on Thursday, confirming a report by USA Today Sports. Gordon applied in early March. He can reapply for reinstatement in the fall.
Gordon hasn’t played in a regular-season game since 2014 because of suspensions for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. His business manager, Michael Johnson, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter in March that Gordon was living with him and was “in the best place mentally that he has been in, dating back years before entering the NFL.”
A source told ESPN’s Josina Anderson Thursday that Gordon’s most recent agent terminated him about “about two weeks ago.” NFL Players Association records show that person was Joby Branion, the third agent to represent Gordon in his brief NFL career. Gordon also has been represented by Drew Rosenhaus and Jeff Nalley.
Gordon, 26, has been working out this year with speed coach Tim Montgomery, a former Olympian who has had his own drug problems but now uses his past mistakes as basis to help others.
He’s missed 3 seasons and is still only 26 years old. No reason has been given why the NFL has denied his reinstatement or a time table of where Gordon goes from here. His talent was Hall of Fame caliber at one point. Should Gordon find a way in the future to get reinstated I am willing to bet a team will find a camp invite or roster spot for the mercurial wide out. His off the field issues have been well documented since college where he was dismissed from Baylor and Utah. In 2016 he checked himself into a rehab facility after appearing preseason games for the Browns.