Josh Gordon returns to Seahawks locker room, has head start on his return game Dec. 27
Josh Gordon is back with more of what he hasn’t had a lot of professionally for 12 months.
It’s what he may need most to extend his formerly All-Pro career—and better his life.
Structure.
Gordon excitedly shared on his social-media account Wednesday that he was back inside Seahawks headquarters in Renton. He reclaimed his same locker-room area he had for six weeks of the 2019 season. That was before the NFL suspended him for the seventh time for drugs, in December 2019.
“I know he’s very sincere about this. He’s worked really hard to get here,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday.
“And, you know, we respect the heck out of that.
“We’re going to help him in every way to make sure that he can get what he wants out of this deal.”
Gordon, 29, has stated he wants to play for the Seahawks for as long as he can see, that he views Seattle as his new, welcoming and supportive home.
“ALL THE WAY IN,” Gordon posted on his Instagram while showing off his return to Seahawks headquarters.
Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Gordon, 29, last week. Goodell’s terms for the 2013 All-Pro wide receiver being able to play again for Seattle says he can attend team and individual meetings with the Seahawks’ coaching staff. He may also engage in individual workouts and strength and conditioning. He cannot practice, travel with the team or attend games until after the Seahawks play at Washington next week, Dec. 20.
“On Monday, December 21 following the club’s Week 15 game, Gordon will be permitted to participate in practice and be eligible to play in the team’s final two regular season games,” Goodell’s reinstatement letter said Dec. 3.
He can also play in any Seahawks postseason games.
The Seahawks signed back Gordon in September, on the presumption he would soon be able to play again. Three months later, in time for Seattle’s playoff push, he finally can.
“Josh is in the building today for the first time, and it’ll take a while before we can get active on in the practice and all that kind of stuff,” Carroll said. “But we’re going through the process.”
Carroll said he doesn’t know why the league allowed Gordon to begin the five-day COVID-19 entry testing protocol last week then enter the team facility on Dec. 9, yet he’s not allowed to practice until Dec. 21.
The Seahawks (8-4) will play two games in that span, Sunday against the New York Jets (0-12) and Dec. 20 at Washington (5-7).
“I don’t know the reason for that. I don’t know what that is,” Carroll said. “But I know it’s an acclimatization type of approach. That’s one of the ideas and I think that’s that the heart of it, is to give a guy a time who hasn’t been part of a program, time to get where he can protect himself and all that.
“I don’t understand these first couple days, why we can’t be with us, totally. But, whatever. That’s the rules and we’re going with it.”
How he may fit
The Seahawks and quarterback Russell Wilson are likely to use the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Gordon beginning in week 16 as a rugged, third-down receiver to complement DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
They expect Gordon to be able to merge into the flow of the offense right away, because of how much better they know him and vice versa compared to 13 months ago when Seattle claimed him off waivers from New England.
“We’re much more familiar now. We’ve spent much more time with him and knowing him and we understand his physical abilities much more so, how he learns and all of that,” Carroll said.
“But we understand the kid, too and how much he wants to be a part of this thing, and just all of those things that go into building a relationship. And so we start way faster than we did last time around. ...We talked about that this morning, that we’re way ahead of where we were when we started last time.”
This spring Gordon had taken the next step to getting his career — and life — back on track after his latest suspension last December for substances of abuse and performance-enhancing drugs. He’d made it clear by expressing his love for the Seahawks in his short stint playing for them last season and then working out in the Seattle area all this past offseason that he felt he’d finally found a home in the Pacific Northwest.
Twelve months ago, days before the eighth suspension of his career: “I think, optimistically, that’s anybody’s goal, any player’s goal, to try to find a place you can call home — in all aspects.
“The culture’s just different. I think it’s something that felt more like a fit, I guess, to me. It’s pretty natural. It’s pretty smooth.
“It’s just my pace, I guess.”
He believes he has finally in Seattle has found a place to help him. He’s battled substance abuse that he told GQ in 2017 he began with Xanax, codeine and marijuana—while he was in middle school. He told GQ he played almost all his games while under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he was in college at Baylor, and in the NFL through multiple chances in Cleveland.
A ninth return
Gordon’s latest reinstatement by Goodell is also about a 69-year-old coach who seeking people needing second chances.
In Gordon’s case, a ninth chance.
Carroll believes his program can be the support system Gordon’s life needs. Help that so far, for most of Gordon’s 29 years, has eluded him.
He most recent suspension came after is lawyer said Gordon relapsed following the death of his brother in November 2019.
“Competitively, it wouldn’t surprise you for me to say I love this opportunity, to try to help him out,” Carroll said last week. “To try to figure out a way to give him the backing that he needs, give him the toughness that he needs, to be the understanding that he needs, so that he can find a way to really function smoothly and find his way to the best he has to offer.
“He brings a unique challenge--as everybody does. But he’s got his own set of circumstances.
“And we are going to try to be there for him.”
Gordon remarked in December 2019, at about the same spot in the locker room he was showing off on Instagram Wednesday, how the Seahawks felt like family. He particularly appreciated that while he was in a new city thousands of miles from his two 4-year-old children, his new teammates opened their homes to him during Thanksgiving in 2019.
Gordon even said his dog, a French bulldog named Franklin, “loves” Seattle.
“He’s used to the cold. At least he should be by now. He stays indoors a lot,” Gordon said. “Got to get him out, hiking.”
Gordon seemed happy, like he was recharging as much as restarting.
“It’s been great, actually,” he said 12 months ago.
“It’s been a great transition, to be honest with you.”
That locker-room vibe and culture — plus the chance to play with Wilson — were more valuable to Gordon than his modest seven catches for 139 yards in five games with Seattle last season
Those intangibles are why Gordon already wanted to be with the Seahawks beyond his contract ending with this 2019 season.
“I’m just fortunate, in general, to have landed in a place like this, with a coach like this, coaching staff and the organization from the top down, guys ... it’s just real family-like,” Gordon said 12 months ago.
Now, they have a former All-Pro wide receiver to add to their playoff push.
But Gordon finally taking advantage of this life chance is by far more important than how he fits the Seahawks’ offense.
“I’m rooting for him to be able to overcome,” Wilson said last week. “I hope this time is better than the last time.”
The quarterback said he is praying for that.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 3:16 PM.
