NFL'S JOSH GORDON RECEIVES 1 YR BAN FOR THIRD MARAJUANA OFFENSE BUT IS IT FAIR COMPARED TO RAY RICE??

JOSH GORDON

Josh Gordon has no one to blame but himself for his year-long suspension for another positive drug test. Yes, the NFL rules on marijuana are misguided and out of touch, but disliking a law isn’t a defense for breaking it.

The uproar over Ray Rice’s two-game suspension is the catalyst for most of the anger directed toward Gordon’s year-long ban. How could a man caught on video assaulting his girlfriend get a two-game suspension when a man who tested positive for a substance that’s legal in two states and decriminalized elsewhere gets a full season?

JANAY & RAY RICE

This misses the point entirely. It’s true that Rice’s two-game suspension was a travesty, but it has no relevance on what happened to Josh Gordon. They’re separate incidents, the first falling under an unfortunate gray area of legalese, the second covered by the iron-clad certainties of drug testing.

Now it’s time to change the rule. It’s too late to save Josh Gordon from missing the 2014 season, but maybe his woes will be a catalyst for necessary change.

Positive drug tests should still carry sanctions. After all, the NFL is a business and it’s not good business to have your players associated with drug use. But one year is too harsh, particularly when domestic violence and drunk driving carry lesser sanctions.

The worst part of the suspension is Gordon’s banishment from all Cleveland Browns activities while he serves his suspension. If the point is to get Gordon on a straight path, not allowing him to have the structure and discipline of a football environment is pure hypocrisy from the league.

There are many problems with the NFL’s rules and its application of their sanctions. But in Josh Gordon’s case, he brought them all upon himself.