What happened to former NFL receiver Josh Gordon? Promise shattered by substance abuse

There aren’t too many players taken in the NFL Supplemental Draft that ever make it to the field, let alone have the potential to become superstars. Josh Gordon was the rare exception. He flashed talent that comes along once every so often, but was never able to realize his full potential due to off-field demons.

Josh Caleb Gordon’s story begins in Houston, Texas in 1991. Unfortunately, his story also includes drugs from the time that he was in middle school. Gordon said that he took Xanax, marijuana and cocaine before he was a teenager because he wasn’t sure he would ever reach adulthood. For him, they served as a mechanism to function each day.

In addition to the drugs he consumed, Gordon also sold substances while he was a student athlete at Baylor University. He estimated that he earned around 10,000 a month with his venture. All the while, he was a standout pass catcher for the Bears, hauling in seven touchdowns and 714 yards during his sophomore season in 2010.

The Cleveland Browns were one of the worst teams in the NFL in the early 2010’s, and needed all the help they could get. The took Gordon in the supplemental draft in 2012, even though he was dismissed from Baylor before the 2011 college football season, and hadn’t played since 2010. The prospect had unique athletic ability that the franchise thought they could make use of.

Gordon put together a sensational 2013 NFL season that showed what he could do at the highest level. He led the league in receiving yards with 1,646, and caught nine touchdowns. With all do respect to Cleveland’s quarterbacks, this was more about the talent Gordon had to run past and jump over defenders.

At 22 years old, Gordon’s NFL career would peak. He would not be able to stay on the field consistently after that, as the league suspended the wide receiver numerous times for failing drug tests. He missed the entire 2015 and 2016 season, and missed parts of other campaigns as well. The Browns could no longer bank on him as a pillar of their team.

In 2018, Cleveland had enough of the drama, and traded him to the New England Patriots. It was as good a professional landing spot as any for the troubled Gordon, but it wasn’t enough to turn his career around. He would play for the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans until 2022, but was out of the game in 2020.

Gordon spoke about trying to circumvent the NFL’s drug testing policies, thinking that he had windows to do drugs or consume alcohol. He admitted that he probably had something in his system for every college and professional game he played in. His pregame ritual would include shots of Grand Marnier liquor, in addition to marijuana.

He’s still only 32 years old, but it seems like his NFL chances have just about run out. He played for the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL during the spring of 2023, and predictably stood out. It speaks to the level of proficiency he had that he could step onto a football field after limited repetitions and still dominate.