NFL news: Josh Gordon steps away in light of another suspension

With news surfacing of another possible suspension of Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon, the former First-team All-Pro has decided to step away from the NFL.

Fantasy football has changed the way that most of us will view the NFL from now on. Sometimes, we forget about team chemistry and other things to focus on what big-name acquisition can join our roster to help the team score more points and touchdowns.

As a result, quarterbacks, wide receivers, and running backs are often the ‘belle of the ball’ when we start discussing trade rumors and free agency. That brings us to the Josh Gordon situation. He’s decided to step away from the game.

Let’s get some of you caught up.

Look at things this way, and take the Philadelphia Eagles for instance. A season ago, both Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith were added at the wide receiver position. Jeffery was extended. Smith was let go. The latter was replaced by Mike Wallace, another highly-touted offseason target.

Unfortunately, injury prevented Eagles fans from seeing a full season of Wallace in a green jersey. What did Philly do? They, again began looking for that next splash acquisition. Several names came up in the rumor mill.

Some were taken more seriously than others, and even though the possibility of a Josh Gordon acquisition fell on deaf ears in a lot of circles, he was seriously thought about by the Eagles organization and a lot of their fans (even if it was a brief thought).

You know how that part of the story ended. Gordon ended up with the New England Patriots.

It seemed as though he had finally turned things around, but on December 20th, his story took another unfortunate turn as news broke that he was facing another indefinite suspension for violating the terms of his reinstatement. In wake of this new information, Gordon’s decided to back away from the NFL and focus on getting himself where he needs to be mentally.

Take a look:

These are real people guys.

Sometimes, we pay so much attention to the EA Sports franchise Madden and to fantasy football that we forget these are real people with real problems. Gordon is much more than a wide receiver, a former First-team All-Pro, and the result of the fifth-round draft choice that the Patriots gave up to get him.

On Thursday he released a statement.

The Patriots responded with one of their own:

What’s most important right now isn’t the next direction the Patriots go in. It isn’t how many points you’ll lose because he was on your fantasy team. The most important thing is Gordon gets the help he needs to fix something in his life that he hasn’t been able to fix himself.

We at ITI are pulling for him, and we look forward to seeing him triumph over this situation.