The NFL’s season-long suspension of Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon for failing another drug test was upheld after a lengthy appeal process. (The league also kept him out of two games last year for violating its substance-abuse policy.)
Punishing a player for smoking marijuana, as Gordon apparently did, might’ve been enough to set fans off, but most were most appalled by a telling comparison: Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was suspended for just two games after beating his fiancée unconscious in an Atlantic City casino. Both were booked on simple assault charges.
Observers tackled the news with gusto.
Josh Gordon & Ray Rice…………. pic.twitter.com/QLLgx9EGEu
— MostEnterestingMan (@MostEntMan420) August 27, 2014
@nflcommish Maybe you should let Josh Gordon counsel Ray Rice pic.twitter.com/oULtVRJjGh
— Miles Wilhelm (@kaiserwilhelm72) August 27, 2014
#joshgordon #rayrice #nfl #fantasyfootball pic.twitter.com/xkDPU90FvM
— Matthew Paul (@TwistedRapture) August 27, 2014
According to the NFL suspensions for Josh Gordon and Ray Rice, Half Baked is a more disturbing movie than Last House on the Left.
— Rob Fee (@robfee) August 27, 2014
Man, it’s a good thing Ray Rice didn’t smoke weed before he beat up his fiancee in that elevator. #JoshGordon
— Zack Bennett (@ZackTN) August 27, 2014
Josh Gordon could have knocked out Ray Rice’s wife 8 times and gotten the same suspension he did for being in the vicinity of marijuana.
— Guy Endore-Kaiser (@GuyEndoreKaiser) August 27, 2014
Looks like Josh Gordon should have just punched that weed and dragged it caveman-style thru a lobby. THEN HE CUD SUIT UP.
— Kevin Sciretta (@kevinsciretta) August 27, 2014
Josh Gordon smoked weed and got the same suspension that Donte Stallworth got when Stallworth drove drunk and killed a guy. Let it sink in.
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) August 27, 2014
the demon bud once again claims another victim. PS I can name four starting QBs off the top of my head who I believe are rapists
— Degenerate Gandhi (@Bro_Pair) August 27, 2014
. @nfl pic.twitter.com/zQLHi9kp9C
— Degenerate Gandhi (@Bro_Pair) August 27, 2014
@david_j_roth next thing you’ll tell me is that a team is named after a racist slur!
— Tony (@DrinksTheThings) August 27, 2014
Some people, of course, were invested in Gordon’s case for selfish reasons.
My fantasy dark horse just got taken out back and got shot #joshgordon
— Jeffrey Johnson (@BrotherNature5) August 27, 2014
Prayers that someone gets drunk enough to draft Josh Gordon in my fantasy league this year.
— Philip Icuss (@Phil_Icuss) August 27, 2014
Well drafting josh Gordon in the 12th round of my fantasy draft was a great idea at the time
— Vinny Nerti (@VinnyNerts) August 27, 2014
Josh Gordon and Sam Bradford are the reason your fantasy league should wait until the week before the opener to draft.
— Andrew Lacy (@andrewlacy52) August 27, 2014
Josh Gordon saved my fantasy seasom last year. Wish he wasn’t suspended.
— CoachD (@CoachDedmon) August 27, 2014
Put Josh Gordon as your starting WR in fantasy if you really thuggin.
— Babyface Assassin (@Karolina_Kidd_7) August 27, 2014
People who drafted Josh Gordon in the last round of their football pools will start crowdfunding money for his legal action.
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) August 27, 2014
On the plus side, Gordon now has plenty of free time to prepare for his DWI hearing.
Photo by Erik Drost/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)