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Open Letter *from* Josh Gordon

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  • I don't know if NFL teams have counselors on staff but if they don't to me it seems it would be a good investment. Just as much as the weight room is the mental and psychological part of football players. Many have some deep seated problems and backgrounds. I would think with a club spending millions of dollars on these players investing in the psychological need of the players makes sense. I know counseling is not a cure all but it does help in a lot of cases.

    It wouldn't have hurt in Gordon's case for some counseling in some of the areas he talks about in his letter.

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    Everyone forgets that these guys are just kids, and a product of their environment. It doesn't change overnight.

    That's where the vet leadership should be helping, instead, they are feeding this guy alcohol on a plane to Vegas, knowing full well it violates his "parole".

    So Gordon, if this story is true, isn't the only one responsible for his suspension.

    Good point. I like the idea of veteran players stepping up and mentoring the younger ones as much as anything.

  • You'd think Haden, who was on the flight, might have had some input.

  • I don't believe for one second that gordon actually wrote that

    Early man walked away as modern man took control. Their minds weren't all the same and to conquer was their goal. So He built his great empires and he slaughtered his own kind, and he died a confused man and killed himself in his own mind...
    hoortaH 1 Reply

  • His message to me boils down to that he's stupid and irresponsible and blames everyone else for his failures except himself

    Early man walked away as modern man took control. Their minds weren't all the same and to conquer was their goal. So He built his great empires and he slaughtered his own kind, and he died a confused man and killed himself in his own mind...

  • I wasn't potentially making tens of millions of dollars at his age. If I was you can be damn sure I'd either be clean or know how to beat a drug test. Mma fighters know how to beat drug tests how come gordon doesn't?

    Early man walked away as modern man took control. Their minds weren't all the same and to conquer was their goal. So He built his great empires and he slaughtered his own kind, and he died a confused man and killed himself in his own mind...

  • Bro the patriots are known cheaters and you're worried about the browns' character issues?

    Early man walked away as modern man took control. Their minds weren't all the same and to conquer was their goal. So He built his great empires and he slaughtered his own kind, and he died a confused man and killed himself in his own mind...

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    That's not what I read. I read that he is a stupid and irresponsible kid with money, who has no mentor in his life. And, his teammates who should understand the position this kid comes from were even more irresponsible and stupid..

    That's not what you read?

    Early man walked away as modern man took control. Their minds weren't all the same and to conquer was their goal. So He built his great empires and he slaughtered his own kind, and he died a confused man and killed himself in his own mind...

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    I'm a Bills fan.

    Zombo Loses when it comes to thinking, you know it when he plays the moderator card, hence, my new nick name...

    No, I don't think the Pats don't have Character issues. I think they win because they pick up discarded players like Gordon and win another ring.

    You are a Bills fan posting on a Browns forum. You should always remember that and roll with the punches. You make some good points but when you counter and attack the Browns you are not winning anyone over here.

  • So his childhood sucks. OK, got it. But if it's still an excuse, he's still that child.

    Is it hard? Yep. But that doesn't mean he gets a free pass. Adulthood is ACTING AS IF.

    He'll only be out of the hood when he puts aside the things he used to do to cope with the hood.

    The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you. "When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less." Paul Brown

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    Really Toxic? You don't know me, or anything about me, or how I think..

    You guys just dispense the insults instead of considering the thought.

    what insults from me? no i don't know you but who's to say if i met you we wouldn't hit it off and have some chuckles.

    the thing is (and was my point) that even though he's a kid and has immense talent doesn't mean that you need/have to keep dealing with the same russian roulette negative bullshit coming from him.

    most are calling manziel a failure because he can't play the game. i'm calling gordon a failure because he CAN play the game but would rather do his thing and not worry about how that affects the browns org.

    there's no room for that in that biz for people like that or any other biz. he woulda been fired after strike 2.

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    That's not what I read. I read that he is a stupid and irresponsible kid with money, who has no mentor in his life. And, his teammates who should understand the position this kid comes from were even more irresponsible and stupid..

    In one way, I agree.

    In another way, the onus is on him to sack up and start taking responsibility for his actions. Someone's smoking weed around you? Don't be around them. You're on a league-mandated alcohol program? Check the terms of your suspension before drinking again.

    At some point the training wheels have to come off.

    I'm awesome, and I fuck dolphins. Ghoolie 12/2/2012: I have absolutely no skills, training or pride

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    Everyone forgets that these guys are just kids, and a product of their environment.

    He has been of legal adult age for 5 years. Not a kid.

    The problem is that many upper tier college and pro athletes have a stunted emotional or maturity - I read a study once wear a lot of star athletes have the emotional maturity of a 14 or 15 year old, because once their potential is identified they have the skids greased for them.

    One can debate the hypocrisy of the NFL substance abuse program, but he should know the rules by now, and how to play by them if he wants to keep playing NFL ball.

    People would do him a favor if they dropped the idea that he's a kid, and messing up because of "his background." Enablers are disablers.

    Hope has two beautiful daughters: Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be. - St. Augustine. Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their vision. - Ayn Rand
    tml1138T 1 Reply

  • johnny-manziel-josh-gordon-aspen.jpg

    Brady's Ball Sack said:

    If someone on your team takes this kid under his wing and becomes a mentor, he is going to be a super star for Cleveland.not next year, and maybe not the year after, but he will grow into a superstar.

    Not this someone though.

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    TCPO/Mohican, the Browns drafted him. If you had a better system of vetting players, maybe you would have picked someone else. Don't take this the wrong way, the Bills are no better. The fact remains that he is your pick. It's easy to dump him, and then you have nothing.. Work it out...

    That has absolutely fricken nothing to due with my post on this topic, but hey, if you're in upstate New York and it's almost February then you probably have a good jag of Boone's Farm on board just to keep afloat. Peace, brother.

    Hope has two beautiful daughters: Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be. - St. Augustine. Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their vision. - Ayn Rand
  • mohicanM mohican

    Brady's Ball Sack said:

    Everyone forgets that these guys are just kids, and a product of their environment.

    He has been of legal adult age for 5 years. Not a kid.

    The problem is that many upper tier college and pro athletes have a stunted emotional or maturity - I read a study once wear a lot of star athletes have the emotional maturity of a 14 or 15 year old, because once their potential is identified they have the skids greased for them.

    One can debate the hypocrisy of the NFL substance abuse program, but he should know the rules by now, and how to play by them if he wants to keep playing NFL ball.

    People would do him a favor if they dropped the idea that he's a kid, and messing up because of "his background." Enablers are disablers.

    @mohican said:

    He has been of legal adult age for 5 years. Not a kid.

    Small detail, but he's only been of "legal adult age" to take part in the only truly legal drug, alcohol, for two years.

  • Puffy had to be high when he composed this

  • Simple answer is whether the NFL, Browns, NFLPA should or shouldn't be involved, and no matter where our opinions fall. Josh Gordon is a man, and is responsible for his choices. Whether the rules are right or not for him, doesn't mean he can just not follow them. I hate some of the rules at my job, and guess what? I still follow them. Make bad choices, suffer the consequences. Make good choices, and reap the rewards. Simple.

    F 1 Reply

  • Brady's Ball Sack said:

    TCPO/Mohican, the Browns drafted him. If you had a better system of vetting players, maybe you would have picked someone else. Don't take this the wrong way, the Bills are no better. The fact remains that he is your pick. It's easy to dump him, and then you have nothing.. Work it out...

    There's very little that "vetting" can do to correctly predict future decisions or behaviors.

    Each prospect is subjected to a psychological evaluation along with their physical evaluation. Each prospect background is checked. Each prospect has a dossier that details exactly who they are, where they came from, what they do, why they do it, and what they'll likely do in the future. But it's not perfect science. If it were, we wouldn't have draft busts.

    The fact remains that he is an investment, and some investments don't pay off. Holding onto a player that could be detrimental to the future success of your team just because you invested in him isn't always the smartest move. In fact, it's almost never the smartest move.

    If we let Gordon go and he goes off to become an eventual superstar, that's great for him. That doesn't mean he would have done it here. That's what people don't realize. It's not "oh, stupid Cleveland...releasing a HOFer because of a little pot." It could be that releasing him is what makes him a superstar. It could be that getting in with a different team, a different locker room, is what causes him to make changes. When you make a choice, there's no way of knowing what the opposite choice could have yielded.

    Obviously, there are bad influences in the Cleveland Browns locker room. Personally, I wonder if Johnny is at the root of this year's troubles with both Gordon and Gilbert. It's obviously not fair to blame someone for another person's antics, but knowing that Gordon and Manziel are buddies in their down-time, it's not that hard to image that Gordon is being put in situations he may not have been put in with other teammates this year. Having one player with known decision issues and another with known motivation issues is already a risk. Dropping a polarizing party boy who's known for his extracurricular activities into the middle of that seems like a recipe for disaster.

    I'll go on record as saying I think releasing Manziel could very well be what helps Gordon and Gilbert get back on track. Build a locker room of strong, professional players with great work ethic that all buy into the system, then you can start to take a risk and drop a few talented "bad seeds" in there one at a time. Just like New England used to do. That bad seed is either going to assimilate and rise to the level of his peers or the locker room will reject him and he'll flame out. Either way, you're not compromising your team's integrity. When you start trying to add questionable character players en masse, that's when things get hairy.

    Drop a droplet of blood in a cup of water, it quickly disappears. Squirt a bunch of blood in that same cup of water, it starts to tint the water.

    I'm awesome, and I fuck dolphins. Ghoolie 12/2/2012: I have absolutely no skills, training or pride
    jcam222J 1 Reply
  • T TexasAg1969

    Let me get this straight. You (JG) have millions of dollars and a very forgiving fan base on the line and yet you don't know by now the rules you have agreed to play by concerning any and all substances?

    OK. I buy that. Got any land in Florida to sell me too? or the Brooklyn bridge maybe?

    Please.

    @texasag1969 said:

    Let me get this straight. You (JG) have millions of dollars and a very forgiving fan base on the line and yet you don't know by now the rules you have agreed to play by concerning any and all substances?

    OK. I buy that. Got any land in Florida to sell me too? or the Brooklyn bridge maybe?

    Please.

    Well I bet his agent or whoever worked the deal told him once the season is over, maybe even league season. He assumed when his season was over. What I would like to know is if they gave him a date. So on March whatever you will no longer be tested for this. If they did that I would have very little leeway. However if they said season in any form I think its a reasonable step to believe it was a misunderstanding on the date. The purpose of the testing who to help enforce no drinking while playing, that was done. Banning a yr for semantical purposes would be dumb.

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