With the addition of Robert Griffin III and some other offseason acquisitions, there seems to actually be at least a bit of expectations within the Cleveland Browns training camp. For a team that has gone nearly a decade without a winning season, high expectations do not exactly mean making the Super Bowl, but I think that the most extreme optimists may believe that Cleveland has a chance to reach 8-8 this year. If absolutely everything goes right for this team, I still think 8-8 is unreachable. More importantly though, I seriously doubt that everything will go right.
I have already previewed the AFC North, so I will not go into full detail as to why I think Cleveland will have another rough season, but I do want to address NFL fans with high expectations, and I want to include their wide receiver Josh Gordon in a larger discussion about the NFL and its players in general.
In 2012, Gordon burst onto the scene in the NFL. His 50 catches, 805 yards, and five touchdowns led all rookie wide receivers. After years of terrible drafts, it seemed as if Cleveland had finally found its diamond in the rough. They had finally found the needle in the vast haystack that had been their history. But, as Lee Corso would say, not so fast, my friend.
During the offseason prior to the 2013 season, the NFL suspended Gordon for the first two games of the regular season due to him violating the league's substance abuse policy. However, as is always the case with pro athletes of the highest caliber, the better you are, the more leash you get. Upon returning, Gordon put up Pro Bowl numbers, including being the first wide receiver in league history to put up consecutive 200 yard games. It was official. Gordon was an up and coming superstar. That was, again, until Gordon found himself in more trouble.
Thanks to a DWI arrest in the offseason, the league suspended Gordon for 10 games. Add that on to a one game suspension by Cleveland later in the season, and Gordon only played in five games. So how did Gordon follow that up? He violated the league's substance abuse policy again and this time was suspended for the entire 2015 season. A year long suspension for multiple failed drug tests must have taught him to stay out of trouble, right? Nope. It did not.
In March of this past year, Gordon failed yet another drug test, and is now going to miss the first four games of this season. After being suspended twice for violating the league's substance abuse policy, and knowing he would be drug tested, Gordon still managed to fail another test. Clearly, this was no longer a one time mistake. It was, and clearly still is, a serious problem. Despite Gordon being scheduled to miss the first four games of this season, many people still have extremely high hopes for Gordon when he finally returns. He was so great when he was on the field, so he will be that just again. My question is this though: Will he?
The last (and only) time Gordon played all 16 games was 2012. He had an undeniably great season. In 2012, Calvin Johnson led the league in multiple receiving categories. Do you know where Calvin Johnson is now? He is retired. Peyton Manning was at the top of the league in multiple passing categories. Colin Kaepernick led his team to the Super Bowl. As of today, Manning is retired and Kaepernick is having a hard time beating out Blaine Gabbert for the starting quarterback job in San Francisco. 2012 is a long time ago. That means that what Josh Gordon did that year is far in the distance of the rear view mirror. Because of his inability to remain on the field thanks to his ability to fail drug tests (while knowing that he would be subjected to them), Gordon is a long way away from his career season. Most people believe that NFL stands for Not For Long. That means that in 2016, what someone did in 2012 is a distant memory.
I do not want to make this all about Gordon, but he is the prime example of what I intend to be my larger point. The Pittsburgh Steelers have Super Bowl caliber talent on their roster, and they have Super Bowl aspirations. With Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, they have what is probably the best quarterback to wide receiver duo in the entire league. Add Martavis Bryant and Le'Veon Bell to that mix, and they have one of the best offenses in the NFL. However, it will not be until Week 5 that Bell will be on the field, and it will not be until 2017 that Bryant will be on the field. Bryant will miss the season due to a substance abuse violation, and Bell will miss the first four games because of the same thing. Pittsburgh faces the Bengals in Week 2 and the Chiefs in Week 4. Those are both two very good teams. It would be nice for Pittsburgh to be at full strength, but because of Bell and Bryant failing drug tests, they will not be at full strength.
So, my main message to these guys is this: STOP SMOKING WEED. I don't care what you think about its legality. I don't care what you think about its medicinal purposes. I don't care what the view of the overall public might be on the drug. I don't care how it might not be as addictive as some of the painkillers the league prescribes are. The league tests for it, and these guys seem to be incapable of realizing that. I am not an expert on marijuana and its effects on the body or its benefits as a painkiller. If it is a more reliable and less addictive relief of pain than other drugs, then that is great. But until the NFL stops testing for it, I don't care what anyone else thinks. That means it is illegal in your profession, and that means I have zero sympathy for anyone who fails any test for it.
I am not going to stand on a soapbox and lecture you about how marijuana might affect your body. If you want to smoke it, then go ahead. There are vices that are far worse than weed. But if you know that the NFL tests for it and you continue to use it, fail tests, and get suspended, then you are stupid. If at my job, the bosses told me that I could only use pens and not use pencils, you would not see me with any pencils at the office. If the bosses told me I could not dress in green clothes, then I am not going to dress in green clothes. The same is true with weed. If I want to keep my job and smoking is against the rules, then I am not going to smoke.
Justify it however you might want, but these guys who fail drug tests are hurting both themselves and their teams. They are hurting their teams by not being out on the field, and they are hurting themselves because they are missing game checks, and now are being flagged as risks when it comes to their next contract negotiations.
Don't give me legality excuses. Don't give me medicinal excuses. The fact remains that the NFL tests for marijuana, and if you fail their tests, then you are going to be suspended. If and when the league stops testing for it, then go ahead and walk around high 24/7. I know plenty of people that smoke weed all the time and excel at their jobs because it is not against the protocol of their employers. If it doesn't affect their performance at work, then I have no problem with it. However, if your job does not permit using the drug and you ignore the rules and continually fail drug tests, then you deserve to be suspended. I'm sure there are plenty of people waiting to take your place that will not be stupid enough to fail test after test.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Another loss last night dropped Arizona to 53-75. All we really have to look forward to now is the September roster expansion and giving young guys a chance to get on the field.
Daily Giants Update: The third preseason game is officially the dress rehearsal for the regular season, and that will happen tomorrow night for the Giants. There have been multiple problems in the first two preseason games, and they start up front with the offensive line. I have liked how Olivier Vernon has played, as well as Eli Apple and Sterling Shepard. The running game has been a serious problem though, so it would be very nice to see some sort of improvement up front so we do not have to have another season of relying on only Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr.
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