Just playing Devil's advocate
(I am sincerely hoping he is reinstated immediately) but if you go by the NFL's warped way of thinking, they may look at it like JG is a multiple repeat offender with probbaly the most serious drug addiction problem the league has ever seen.
It has not even been a year since he was suspended indefinitely on December 20, 2018.
He has had suspensions and failure to be reinstated at least 5 previous times. I would honestly be surprised if he is reinstated before December.
1) On July 5, 2014, Gordon was arrested for
driving while impaired in
Raleigh, North Carolina.
[23]
On August 27, 2014, Gordon acknowledged that the NFL suspended him for one year for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
[24] On September 19, 2014, his suspension was reduced to 10 games amidst the new NFL drug policy. Gordon was officially reinstated on November 17.
[25]
2)
Gordon was suspended for the entire 2015 season due to violating the league's substance abuse policy.[27][28] Gordon entered the NFL's substance abuse program after pleading guilty to a driving while impaired charge in September 2014 and was prohibited from consuming alcohol during his time in the program.
[29] The suspension was for one year starting on February 3, 2015 and he was not eligible to return until the start of the 2016 season.
[30]
3) On January 20, 2016, Gordon applied to the league for reinstatement.
[31] His request was denied in March when it was reported that he had failed another drug test.
4)
On September 29, 2016, Gordon left the Browns to enter an in-patient rehabilitation facility. He was one week away from reinstatement to the NFL, serving his previous sentence of four regular season games
5)
On September 9, 2018, playing against the
Pittsburgh Steelers. Gordon made a late-game reception for 17 yards and a touchdown resulting in a 21-21 tie following overtime.
[40] The following week the Browns indicated that they would be parting ways with Gordon after he "violated the team's trust.
According to
The Plain Dealer, the Browns feared that he was struggling to stay sober, and had done everything they believed they could do to keep him on the right path.
[42]
6)
On December 20, Gordon announced that he would step away from football to focus on his mental health.
The NFL later stated that Gordon will be facing an indefinite ban for violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement under the NFL drug policy.
[3]