Gordon drank before games
NFL NOTES
Josh Gordon has never played an NFL game sober. That has to change if he plans to play in another one.
One day before the Browns wide receiver gets another shot at rebooting his star-crossed career, Gordon revealed in a candid magazine interview that he used drugs or alcohol before every game of his career — pro or college.
Gordon, who was reinstated on a conditional basis by Commissioner Roger Goodell last week after being suspended for nearly three years, told GQ he drank or smoked marijuana before “every game. Probably every game of my career.”
The former Pro Bowl player did the interview before meeting with Goodell in New York. Gordon said he began taking drugs in seventh grade, and he outlined a pregame routine as a pro where he would do shots of alcohol to “get the motor running.”
“We would stay at the team hotel, and then players are allowed to go back home, get what they need and then go to the game,” Gordon said. “So I’d leave the hotel early morning, go home, eat breakfast, do my little ritual, whatever it may be, some weed, some alcohol and then go to the game. And then, I’d definitely be partying after every game, win or lose. Every game.”
Evans punished: The NFL suspended Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans for one game for unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness in the Buccaneers’ loss at New Orleans.
Evans ran up from behind and knocked over Saints rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore after a confrontation between Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston, who was on the sideline because of a sore shoulder, and Lattimore.
Evans was penalized but not ejected from the Saints’ 30-10 victory. He can appeal the suspension within three days.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers are shutting down Winston for at least two weeks in hopes the condition of his injured throwing shoulder improves.
The third-year quarterback sat out the second half of Sunday’s 30-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints after being sacked late in the second quarter and landing on the shoulder he initially hurt at Arizona on Oct. 15.
Jets receiver suspended: New York Jets wide receiver-punt returner Jeremy Kerley was suspended four games without pay by the NFL for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing substances.
Kerley said he was “shocked” to test positive for Turinabol. He adds that he has never used steroids and fully intends to investigate what caused the positive test.
Elliott’s hearing Thursday: A federal appeals court has set a Thursday hearing as attorneys for Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott seek a longer-lasting injunction to stop his six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday issued a stay of the NFL’s punishment, the third legal reprieve for Elliott. It cleared last year’s league rushing leader to play Sunday.