@ThePostSports writers debate Josh Gordon's suspension for marijuana.
Josh Gordon should be suspended, there is no denying that.
The length of his suspension, however, and the NFL’s suspension policy, is what really disturbs me.
In the wake of the suspension of Baltimore Ravens' running back Ray Rice, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to make a statement.
After Rice was suspended for just two games for domestic disputes between him and his wife, Goodell wanted to tighten his grip over the NFL after the commissioner came under fire by media outlets in previous months.
Gordon’s latest suspension joins a long list of suspicious decisions by Goodell and the NFL. In 2008, New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was suspended for a full season because he shot himself in the thigh. He didn’t even injure anyone else and he still had to sit out a year.
It’s a shame that players like Denver’s Matt Prater and Gordon are suspended for substance abuse, yet Rice can get away with beating another human being and still be eligible to play 14 games.
In Goodell’s terms: Rice would need to beat eight women just to get the same sentence as Gordon, who was caught with drugs for the zillionth time.
And now with Gordon being gone, the Cleveland Browns have to wait until 2015’s fourth preseason game to finally utilize their number one receiver.
The NFL really needs to be more consistent with its policies.
Luke O’Roark is a sophomore journalism major and a sports writer for The Post. Do you think Josh Gordon’s suspension was unfair? Let him know @Lukeoroark and lr514812@ohio.edu.
Josh Gordon’s suspension isn’t news.
He messed up—not once or twice—but three times under the watch of the National Football League. Even in college, Gordon failed multiple drug texts inevitably sending him from Baylor to Utah and almost to Houston, only for him to declare for the NFL Supplemental Draft, instead.
As if his four-game suspension wasn’t enough reason to change his behavior during the 2013 season, maybe 12 months away from football will change an obvious character flaw.
While it’s easy to point fingers at Gordon, it’s just as easy to blame the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns knew the suspension loomed on the horizon, but the organization ignored the situation.
A dozen wide receivers were selected in the first two rounds of May’s NFL Draft—the most since the “common draft era” began in 1967.
Cleveland passed on all of them.
In fact, when the franchise had the opportunity to select the draft’s most explosive receiver, Sammy Watkins, the Browns traded their pick to the Buffalo Bills, opting to eventually choose a cornerback, quarterback and offensive lineman.
Cleveland has the worst receiving corps in the NFL—by a wide margin.
Fans aren’t NFL general managers; neither are journalists. But both may have handled this whole debacle in a better manner.
Then again, it’s Cleveland. What did you expect?
Charlie Hatch is a sophomore journalism major and a sports writer for The Post. Do you think the Browns are to blame? Let him know @charliehatch_ and gh181212@ohiou.edu.
