This is why we can’t trust Josh Gordon.
There’s a warrant out for the Browns wide receiver’s arrest over his failure to respond to several subpoenas concerning a paternity suit in which a 21-year-old Maple Heights woman alleges that he is the father of her now 1-year-old daughter.
The news comes just a little over a week and a half began he can begin practicing with the team after being suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the season for violating its substance abuse policy — again. He is eligible to return for the Week 5 visit by the New England Patriots on Oct. 9. That, of course, is also when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, also under a four-game, league-imposed suspension for his role in Deflategate, will make his 2016 debut.
While Brady is staying out of trouble – at least we think he is – Gordon is once more making (bad) news for off-the-field issues.
And so it goes.
Suspensions have caused Gordon to miss 29 of the last 34 games. By the time he returns on Oct. 9 – if indeed he does return – it will be 31 of 36 contests.
Everybody, it seems, is all geeked up to see Gordon back on the field against the Patriots, and beyond. They salivate over the possibility of him joining Cleveland’s young but talented receiving corps.
And that’s understandable, because Gordon is a physical freak with his rare combination of size, speed and strength. When he can stay on the field, as he did for the last 14 games of 2013 when he had the best season ever by a Browns pass-catcher with 87 catches for a league-best ad team-record 1,646 yards, an 18.9 yards-per-catch average, and nine touchdowns, he is a match-up nightmare for opponents.
The problem is, though, that he can’t stay on the field. He’s like a rolling stone, staying for a while and then going away for long periods of time.
So for the Browns to count – really, truly count — on him coming back is foolish. They can hope, they can pray, they can go to church and light candles and they can buy up every rabbit’s foot they can find, but there is absolutely no guarantee that Gordon will ever again wear a Cleveland uniform or, for hat matter, the uniform of any other team – at least in the NFL. Perhaps he’ll end up playing north of the border in the CFL. Who knows what’s going to happen with this guy?
But if you were going to bet, then you’d have to put your money down on the belief that he won’t make it back with the Browns. Time and time and time again, just when it looked as if Gordon had finally gotten himself back on the straight and narrow, something happened to throw him for a loss.
Will this paternity situation be the newest “something” to derail him? Or will it turn out that he has indeed finally turned the corner in his life, and that this matter is merely a speed bump to be easily hurdled?
That remains to be seen.
But the Browns – namely head coach Hue Jackson and Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown – can’t spend any time worrying about it as their team has lost two games and two quarterbacks in as many tries and has a big challenge on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. Josh Gordon’s availability – or lack thereof – is the least of their problems right now.
