Report: Suspended Browns receiver Josh Gordon hopes NFL rules on reinstatement in month or so

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The NFL could rule on suspended Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon’s bid for reinstatement into the league in a month or so, ESPN reported Friday.

ESPN’sDan Graziano reported unnamed sources said the expectation is that the NFL will make a decision on Gordon by late April or early May.

An NFL spokesman said the league does not have a comment on the report.

When a banished player like Gordon files for reinstatement, the league usually attempts to gather the necessary information to make a ruling within 60 days of receiving the application, but there is no requirement to deliver a decision in that time frame. Gordon’s business manager, Michael Johnson, told ESPN on March 1 his client would apply for reinstatement.

Gordon has missed 43 of the past 48 games because of recurring violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy. He hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since Dec. 21, 2014, and it’s unknown whether NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will reinstate him.

He was on the brink of returning from a four-game suspension to play for the Browns on Oct. 9 against the New England Patriots when he announced Sept. 29 he would instead step away from his comeback attempt to enter inpatient rehabilitation. Gordon’s third known trip to rehab lasted 30 days and began on the heels of him becoming entangled in a paternity case.

When Gordon left the Browns in September, the organization made it clear it was done with him.

Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said March 1 at the NFL scouting combine the team hasn’t even considered Gordon becoming available to play again.

“We really haven’t sat down to talk about what it would be like if he gets back in or even taking the time to understand exactly what that would look like, and I think that’s a pretty complicated process at this point given, kind of, his history,” Brown said. “So it would be largely speculative at best, and we’ve got a lot of guys to focus our attention on.”

Asked March 2 at the combine if he would be open to reviewing Gordon’s case again if the 2013 All-Pro selection were reinstated, Browns coach Hue Jackson said, “He’s not reinstated yet, so I think it would be premature to get in any discussion about that. I’m sure we’ll deal with it in the future when the time comes.”

ESPN reported Gordon, 25, has been training under former Olympian sprinter-turned-speed coach Tim Montgomery in hopes of making a comeback.

Montgomery was stripped of medals and records in 2005 for using performance-enhancing drugs. Later, he spent more than four years in prison as a result of check fraud and dealing heroin.

Now Montgomery is committed to helping athletes at NUMA Speed in Gainesville, Fla.

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By Nate Ulrich

Akron Beacon Journal

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