Josh Gordon suspended for “at least” next season. Yikes. Another failed drug test.
Browns are also looking at a suspended GM, loss of draft pick, and fine for texts to the sidelines. On the bright side, we won’t screw up this draft pick.
I’m rooting for the Hawks again!
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but I went to high school with Jordan Hill’s mother and father. Jordan is a defensive lineman from Penn State who was drafted by the Seahawks last year. I have enjoyed a little credibility bump with the good folks back home merely for living in the greater Seattle area. Also, I now have an NFL player in my LinkedIn network.
And the owner is still under investigation by the FBI!
The Giant’s number one priority this off-season has to be the offensive line. There is plenty of talent on this offense and I think McAdoo was fine and will hopefully improve as offensive coordinator but without an offensive line, nothing works.
On defense they have holes as always but Spagnola is back as defensive coordinator and I think that will hopefully cure some ills from last season.
Alcohol, allegedly. Which after a DUI isn’t smart, but a whole year’s suspension? This seems a bit out of whack, despite the other missteps. I’m actually seeing the guy as a bit persecuted now… it’s not as if his job is to drive a schoolbus.
I remember when I had roughly the same sentiment about Spags. Didn’t work out so well.
The thing is though, the guy’s had multiple hits on the drug policy. And while it’s easy to say “It’s just alcohol”, it’s the context that matters. Gordon’s reinstatement from suspension in 2014 was contingent on him enrolling in the league’s substance abuse rehabilitation program, which he did after he got a DUI in September, while already suspended for a year. Part of his reinstatement and reduction of his suspension from 16 games to 10 was his ongoing participation in that program. Alcohol is a violation of that program, especially for a guy with a DUI.
He had one job. He screwed that up. Again.
Yikes – I knew things didn’t work out for him as a head coach but I had no idea his stint in New Orleans was so disastrous. Was that all on him or was some of it related to Payton’s suspension? There was some speculation that his success in New York had more to do with the personnel he had to work with than his abilities. Hopefully he and Coughlin just mesh well.
Yeah, from what I gather, the guy has a substance abuse problem, an addiction, and they gave him the opportunity to get professional help with it. Part of his treatment plan was staying clean and sober, and the fact that he KNEW alcohol could cause him to lose his job and still did not abstain is a sign of his problem. This isn’t like some random jock having a few drinks.
It’s tough to tease everything apart really. Payton was suspended and the personnel on defense was pretty bad. At the same time presiding over the worst NFL defense EVER doesn’t look good on one’s resume regardless of the circumstances. Rob Ryan also came into a pretty much identical roster (only notable additions were Keenan Lewis at CB and rookie Kenny Vaccarro at safety) the next year and had success. Of course Ryan’s subsequent year was a disaster, so who knows.
From Pat McManamon, ESPN’s Browns beat reporter:
One can only imagine what’s next. And one can only wonder if Farmer’s future is tenuous given the texting issues, which are embarrassing. Add on the first round from 2014 and the disintegration of a season that once held promise, and Farmer has had quite a first year.
Maybe when it all shakes out, he’ll call it the proverbial “learning experience.”
He can then join Browns fans who have learned so much over the years.
Primarily that for pain and suffering or (depending on your point of view) comic impact, there really is nothing quite like a Cleveland Browns offseason.
Yes, I’ve always said that being a Cleveland sports fan teaches you things. You know, like the meek shall NOT inherit the earth.
Yeah I think its stupid. His story is that he was on a flight with some teammates and had 2 beers and 2 mixed drinks, when the plane landed he was told to report for a test and failed. As a fan, I don’t care if players drink or smoke pot. Why does the NFL care? It’s such a fucking hypocritical organization. HOF voters are not allowed to consider off the field incidents, so a serial rapist like Sharper is actually on the ballot next year. Ray Lewis probably murdered two dudes and will be in on the first ballot.
I was wondering the reason for the texting rule.
Usually next to coordinator in pressbox and can talk to them, no?? And they can relay…
The point isnt about your personal opinions regarding drug or alcohol abuse, the point is that he is getting paid millions to play a game. He is under contract to do so and willingly signed and agreed to abide by said contract and the restrictions they impose. He has repeatedly broken that contract and shown no remorse or any actually intention to abide to his contractual obligations in the future. In the real world this guy would be fired. In the NFL he is merely suspended after multiple offenses. I have absolutely zero sympathy for Gordon.
I assume the reason is more focused around receiving texts on the sideline than who’s sending them. They just want to control the information that’s being made available to the sideline coaches, otherwise you could have somebody spying on the other sideline’s playcalls or something.
Pretty much where I come down as well. In regards to being hypocritical, people often misunderstand the rationale behind these restrictions: they don’t care about morality or “right and wrong,” but rather things that could potentially contribute to a situation involving eventual revenue loss (opportunity cost or real cost). So it’s really not being hypocritical when you understand there’s no principle behind the rules except for fiscal optimization. No matter what anyone tells you, the league as an entity couldn’t care less about morals. Individual people do, but not the league. Drugs are prohibited because players consorting with criminals (needed unless you’re in a state where it’s legalized) puts the league’s integrity at risk and also can lead to bad “optics.” DUI’s are also an optics issue, with the risk that it could explode from there into vehicular homicde and other issues down the road (no pun intended). In addition, it’s an added injury risk for teams that invest in such a player. As for Sharper, he’s been indicted but not convicted. It’s the whole innocent until proven guilty thing (seems pretty likely that he’s guilty, however).
Yeah, it’s a control issue - the rumors I hear are that it was basically internal sniping at coworkers rather than an attempt to gain a competitive advantage, so my guess is a fine and suspension but no draft pick loss (pure guess, however, and with no insider information).
Gordon got himself into trouble knowing the consequences so I don’t have too much sympathy either, but I agree with Olaf that the policy itself is a bit silly. Testing positive for pot shouldn’t be an offense. The NFL shouldn’t even test for it. Test for PEDs and nothing else.
Now after a player gets a DUI I do think the NFL can levy some penalties, including testing to ensure that the player isn’t drinking for a given length of time. The NFL has a right to protect its image. Of course that image is hey, let’s watch a game and drink lots of beer!
The NFL has become so cartoonishly evil that I reflexively take the opposing stance on anything like this. Even if it’s some dumbass kid drinking when he signed a contract to not drink.
Shocking, really, when you give early-20s young adults millions of dollars and all the attention in the world, and some of them make bad decisions. And Gordon doesn’t even register on the “dumb shit that people do when they’re younger” scale.