NFL reinstates Gordon for Week 16
Josh Gordon was conditionally reinstated by the NFL on Thursday and can begin the process of joining the Seahawks roster as early as Friday.
Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Gordon after nearly a one-year suspension following his latest off-field transgression for violations of the league’s substance abuse policies. The former All-Pro receiver was suspended in December 2019 for violating the league’s drug policy. He tested positive for performance enhancers and “substances of abuse,” the league said in a statement at the time.
It was the eighth time overall Gordon, 29, had been suspended by either his team or the NFL, including six times since 2013, mostly for violating the league’s policies on banned substances.
The league said Gordon can begin COVID-19 testing on Friday and may begin attending team and individual meetings Wednesday should his tests come back negative. He can also begin individual workouts and strength and conditioning.
Gordon cannot practice with the team until Dec. 21 following the Seahawks’ Week 15 game at Washington. Gordon would be eligible to play in the Seahawks’ final two regular-season games.
College basketball: Emon Washington had 30 points and Illinois State scored the fourth-most points in NCAA Division I history with a 177-108 victory over visiting Greenville on Wednesday night. The Redbirds (2-1) sit behind Loyola Marymount and LIU Brooklyn in the record book. LMU scored 186 points in 1991 and 181 in ’89, LIU Brooklyn totaled 179 in ’97 and
Oklahoma had 173 in ’89. On Sunday, Murray State beat Greenville 173-95. Washington made 12 of 13 shots as Illinois State was 70 of 81 from the floor (86.4%). Greenville, a D-III member, attempted 108 field goals, making 42.
College football: Texas Tech announced Thursday that coach Matt Wells tested positive for COVID-19. Wells will isolate at home and continue his coaching duties remotely. ... President Donald Trump presented College Football Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The 83-year-old Holtz, who’s been a controversial and outspoken supporter of the president, led Notre Dame to the 1998 national title. He coached at six other schools and spent one season as coach of the NFL’s Jets, going 3-10 in 1976. Holtz was among the speakers at this year’s Republican National Convention, offering Trump a strong endorsement while attacking the president’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden. In his remarks, Holtz called Biden a Catholic “in name only.” President-elect Biden is a practicing Catholic.
Golf: Russell Knox of Scotland shot an opening-round 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead the PGA Tour’s Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Joaquin Niemann of Chile, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Tom Hoge were tied for second. ... Britain’s Charley Hull shot an opening-round 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead over three players when play was suspended due to darkness with 16 players left on the course at the LPGA Tour’s Volunteers of America Classic in The Colony, Texas.