Josh Gordon made the wrong kind of headlines once again this weekend when he was arrested early Saturday morning in North Carolina under suspicion of driving while impaired. Our Rory Parks rounded up several links yesterday dealing with the fallout of the Browns wideout’s latest transgression, and we heard this morning that former teammate D’Qwell Jackson and others close to Gordon believe he needs to seek help.
Others have weighed in today on the Gordon saga, debating whether or not the Browns should even keep him on their roster as they await word on his upcoming suspension. Here’s the latest:
- Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, who overcame his own issues with alcohol and cocaine, explained to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer why he believes the Browns ought to cut Gordon. “He loves football more than anything, so I would take that away,” Carter said. “When I say they should cut him, I say that because I believe that will be the catalyst to help. When you’re falling in life, at some point you have to make a bottom floor and say ‘This is it for me. I’m going to establish my house on this right here. And I’m going to build up.'”
- Carter added that GM Ray Farmer should tell Gordon that the team will sign him to a new contract when he gets clean and gets reinstated. “He needs to learn to live substance-free, and the team isn’t going to be able to help him do that now,” Carter said. “If he wants to play football, he’s going to have to show substantial progress in the next year for the NFL to allow him to play ever again. I’m not concerned about the Browns. I’m concerned about the team they put around him now.”
- Cabot hears from a source that the Browns have reached out to several professionals and are in the process of assembling a support team for Gordon.
- Former Jets head coach Herm Edwards disagrees with Carter’s assessment, suggesting he wouldn’t cut Gordon because “you’re not trying to shock the guy; you’re trying to help (him)” (Twitter links via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal).
- According to Tom Reed of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, now is not the time for the Browns to cut Gordon. In Reed’s view, the team shares culpability in Gordon’s infractions and needs to do what it can to help support him.
- ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert believes that speculation about Gordon’s NFL career potentially being done is overblown, and says that the wideout’s performance on the field last season “provides enormous incentive” for those around him to do everything they can to make sure he gets straightened out.