Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon met the media for the first time since he was reinstated by the NFL from a suspension that kept him off the field for all of last season.
Gordon reiterated the message that he’s grateful for the chance to return that he sent on Twitter after being reinstated and said there were times when he wasn’t sure if the Browns would want him back. He said he’s happy that they do and that he’s a different person than the selfish player that he’s been in the past. Gordon said he knows that just saying it doesn’t prove anything and wants to show how he’s changed by taking advantage of the support that the Browns are offering him.
“I have a great support staff here, moreso than I’ve ever felt before,” Gordon said, via the Akron Beacon-Journal. “It plays a part on both sides. Me wanting to give in to that support and allow them to help me and me wanting to be helped, as I opposed to before me trying to be selfish and do things on my own.”
Gordon said that quarterback Robert Griffin III is part of the support team and someone that he knows he can “count on and lean on” during the season. Gordon and Griffin have adjacent lockers, which Gordon said was no accident.
Gordon also addressed his relationship with a past Browns quarterback by saying that Johnny Manziel is always going to be his friend, but that they are “definitely two different people on two different paths.” Gordon said he has to do what’s right for him for the “sake of my career,” something that the Browns likely hope includes fewer nights with their former quarterback and more time spent focused on resuming a career that will remain long on promise as long as Gordon remains on the field.
