NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell summoned suspended Browns receiver Josh Gordon as he prepares to decide Gordon’s fate for the upcoming season.
Goodell sat down with Gordon on Wednesday after asking for the meeting, a league source confirmed to The Chronicle-Telegram on Thursday.
Josh Gordon
Gordon has been serving an indefinite suspension since Feb. 3, 2015, and can apply for reinstatement Aug. 1 — three days after the Browns will open training camp without him.
Gordon initially applied for reinstatement in January but was denied April 12 after reports he failed another drug test. There’s no timetable for a decision, according to a source, but ESPN reported one isn’t expected for at least six weeks. That would delay a possible Gordon return until close to the start of the regular season Sept. 11.
The meeting is a positive sign for Gordon, though it doesn’t guarantee reinstatement. He’s failed several drug tests dating back to college, and the NFL is looking for a string of clean tests.
“To be reinstated, a player must demonstrate sustained abstinence,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an email during Gordon’s last application. “In support of their applications, players generally put forward verifiable testing records and/or submit to periodic NFL testing during the banishment period.”
Gordon has failed at least four tests since being taken in the second round of the 2012 supplemental draft. He’s been suspended by the league each of the last three seasons, including for all of 2015, and has missed 27 of the last 32 Browns games.
The latest failed test was from a sample collected in early March, according to a Fox Sports report. It said the sample revealed marijuana and a diluting agent. The levels of marijuana were below the 35 nanograms per milliliter required for a positive test, but a diluted sample qualifies as a positive result.
According to league policy, Gordon will be interviewed by medical personnel from the league, who will make a recommendation to Goodell. Gordon must also allow the league to review his substance abuse history, including attendance at counseling sessions and 12-step and self-help meetings, and agree to the league’s conditions for reinstatement.
Goodell said during Super Bowl week in February he wanted to be confident Gordon understood he must change his behavior to be part of the NFL.
Gordon, 25, has stayed off social media over the last couple of months and appears to no longer be hanging out with troubled former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. The pair had spent significant time together in the spring as Manziel partied in California.
If Gordon earns Goodell’s stamp of approval, the Browns would have a decision to make. The new regime of executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown and coach Hue Jackson hasn’t ruled out a return by Gordon — Brown said he’s still got a “bright future” — but has stopped short of saying it’ll welcome him back.
“If Josh comes back, great,” Brown told reporters at the owners meetings. “And if he doesn’t, we’re ready.
“We would sit down with him and see where his head is and go from there. The first step, though, obviously is he’s got to be reinstated.”
Browns adviser Jim Brown told cleveland.com last month that Gordon has been in rehab and gotten help for his substance use.
If Gordon’s reinstated, and the Browns keep him, he has the talent to transform not only their unproven receiving corps but also an offense expected to struggle. Gordon (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) was an All-Pro in 2013 when he led the NFL with a franchise-record 1,646 receiving yards despite being suspended for the first two games.
At receiver, he would join first-rounder Corey Coleman, three other rookie draft picks, veteran Andrew Hawkins and converted quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who’s trying to stick at his new position.
Gordon would also be reunited with friend and new quarterback Robert Griffin, a teammate at Baylor.
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @scottpetrak on Twitter.
