OT: Gordon Leaving Pats

“Stepping Away” sounds a lot different than “Facing
indefinite suspension”

Regardless though it sucks for them, but glad it happened
now rather than after the playoffs.

It was just a matter of time. He's got real issues and leaving football entirely for good may be his best option. 

I really sympathize with real mental health issues.

That said, manipulative kids understand the stigma of this stuff and hide behind it. I had a kid on my high school football team who walked off the field in practice. Quit the team. He was a decent friend of mine at the time. After practice, we hung out as he lived near by. He said he was sick of the coach dogging him when he was practicing as good as he was for 2 weeks. He said he couldn't stand being one of the fastest kids on the team yet continually treated like an idiot or called out for little shit when he was giving it 100%. He was pissed off and happy to have quit. About a week and a half later, guess who shows back up at practice in full equipment? The coaching staff has him out with the starters on the first series and it was like he never left. After practice, we're hanging out. He says that he regretted quitting and that he thought of an excuse all week to tell the coaches so he could play again. Says he apologized to the coaches and told them he was going through some shit at home and that he had to do what was right.

I didn't care about the lie because he was a friend and I thought he shouldn't have quit in the first place. I thought his real reason for walking out was ridiculous, but I was just glad he was back with us on the team. But I understood exactly what he did by pushing the right buttons to get his way, and it worked.

With Gordon, it's not too much of a stretch for me to imagine a pot smoker understanding the larger dynamic of how people react to mental health issues, wanting to "take a break from football," and throwing this out there to keep the door open while not playing. I hope he is genuine in what he is saying and doing, and I hope this isn't just lip service bullshit to write himself a hall pass...

@"StickyBun" said: It was just a matter of time. He's got real issues and leaving football entirely for good may be his best option. 

The NFL has announced Josh Gordon has been suspended indefinitely for violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement under the Substance Abuse policy.

What kind of pisses me off is, he was reinstated, came in and helped them win some games, now he’s leaving for mental health reasons and is suspended indefinitely again. The Patriots benefited from him being there, even though he basically has no self control. He should never have been given the chance this season.
Also, I get the second chance thing, but after that, the NFL needs to just cut the ties and let them figure life out. He isnt going to change, and most of the repeat offenders aren’t going to change either.