Josh Gordon Calls Out Critics and Tells His Side of the Story in Essay

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon has been called many things by many people over the last year or so. Each time he got in trouble people would comment about how talented he is, how its wasted talent, and how he is an accident waiting to happen basically. So when the news broke that he had failed a drug test and is set to be punished by the NFL yet again the naysayers and critics came out in droves yet again.

It seems that Josh is getting a little tired of hearing from all these people that know nothing about him, but talk as if they are friends. So he decided to write an essay talking all about them, his life, and what he got in trouble for this time.

via Twitter

If you want to read the whole essay I will provide a link at the end of this post, but there are two parts I wanted to point out. This one where he talks about the conditions that followed his DUI arrest:

As a strict condition to my reinstatement in Week 12, I had to agree not only to abstain from drinking for the rest of the season, but also to submit to an alcohol screen as part of my in-season drug testing under the league’s substance-abuse protocol. Did I think that was excessive given I had never had any issue whatsoever with alcohol? Yes. Did I think it was hypocritical that a professional league making hundreds of millions of dollars off beer sponsorships was telling me not to drink? Yes. Did I so much as blink at the condition? No.

Okay. Simple enough, right? So in that case could he not hold off of drinking till the season ended? Well--yes, but that is not what happened:

On Jan. 2 of this year, just days after our season ended earlier than we all had hoped — and yes, my actions during the prior offseason definitely contributed to our failure to make the playoffs; it killed me seeing our guys fight so hard when I wasn’t out there with them — I boarded a private flight to Las Vegas with several teammates. During the flight, I had two beers and two drinks. It was the first time I had consumed so much as a drop of alcohol since July 4, 2014, the day of the DWI.

He goes on to say that when he got off the flight he got the call to go get tested within four hours and sure enough he failed the test. He also admits that he should have checked with the league to see if it was the end of the Browns season or the league season meaning following the Super Bowl (something his agent should have known).

It's a good read and will give you some insight in to a talented wide receiver that will hopefully get another chance. If the Browns decide they are done with him this essay might be just what another team will need to justify giving him one.

[The Medium]

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