Josh Gordon hasn't run out of chances with the NFL or the Browns.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated the ultra-talented but troubled wide receiver on a conditional basis Wednesday, and the Browns made it clear he'll receive an opportunity to have a future with them after his long absence from football.
"We've been informed of the league's decision to reinstate Josh," Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said in a statement. "The personal well-being of all our players is of the utmost importance to us. We respect and commend Josh for taking the steps necessary to have the opportunity to return to the league. Josh will be in our building in the coming days and we look forward to having him back and sitting with him to discuss his future on our team."
The league announced Gordon is permitted to join the Browns effective immediately to attend meetings, engage in conditioning work and individual workouts. The 0-8 Browns have a bye this week, so players are off until Monday, when meetings and workouts will resume.
Gordon will be placed on the commissioner's exempt list and be allowed to practice with the Browns beginning Nov. 20, subject to compliance with clinical and other requirements, according to the league.
The NFL stated that beginning Nov. 27, Gordon will be eligible, at the discretion of the Browns, to return to the active roster or remain on the commissioner's exempt list for an additional week before returning to active status.
So the earliest Gordon could play in a game would be Dec. 3 on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers. If he could return to action by then, he would have a chance to play in the final five games of the season.
On Wednesday, Goodell met with Gordon at NFL headquarters in New York to discuss his reinstatement.
"As emphasized at today's meeting, everyone _ including Josh's teammates and coaches, the Browns' ownership and organization, the Program professionals and all of us at the league office _ want him to have every opportunity to resume his career and to be successful in the NFL," Goodell said in a statement. "Whether that happens, however, at the end of the day will depend on Josh. His commitment to sobriety and to reaching his goals in football and beyond will determine his success. It ultimately is up to Josh."
Gordon has missed the last 41 games, 51 of the past 56 and hasn't played in the regular season since Dec. 21, 2014, because of recurring violations of the NFL's substance-abuse policy. The league rejected his petition for reinstatement in May and told the 2013 All-Pro selection he could reapply this fall.
Gordon, 26, disclosed his long history of alcohol and drug abuse in a mini-documentary produced by Uninterrupted.com and released Oct. 10. In the film, Gordon admitted to using Xanax, cocaine, marijuana, codeine cough syrup and promethazine. He discussed his fourth known stint in rehab, which lasted more than three months in Florida and ended in late September.
The Browns have vacillated in the past year between whether they would welcome Gordon back or get rid of him should he return. Winless and starved for talent in their receiving corps, the Browns now plan to give Gordon a chance to redeem himself in Cleveland. Gordon would undoubtedly need time to readjust to the NFL, but he has been training off and on since early this year with former Olympic sprinter Tim Montgomery in Florida.
The last time the NFL conditionally reinstated Gordon, he spent the 2016 preseason with the Browns and compiled five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in two exhibition games. Under the terms of his reinstatement, he then had to serve a four-game suspension before returning to regular-season action.
With less than two weeks until Gordon would have been eligible to play, he left the Browns and entered rehab for the third time. His departure came on the heels of him becoming entangled in a paternity case in which he was proved to be the father of a Maple Heights, Ohio, girl.
In the recent documentary, Gordon expressed a desire to become an involved father and resurrect his football career.
"When you're put in a position to be constricted socially, financially, just all resources exhausted, the ego is diminished to just about nil," said Gordon, a second-round pick in the 2012 supplemental draft who led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards and became an All-Pro selection in 2013. "The only thing I know I have to go off of is my faith, family and my ability with football.
"I need to live out my amends, try to make right for all my past transgressions and mistakes and show and prove that I can be a better person, a better man, somebody that is accountable, reliable, because I know what's on the other side of that. If given the opportunity, I believe I can prove my worth."
