Josh Gordon made his return to the football field on Thursday night, playing in his first actual game since a suspension ended his 2018 campaign last December.
It was the latest in a series of drug-related suspensions for the wide receiver that have limited him to just 22 games since his monster 2013 season in which he hauled in 87 receptions for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns.
New England Patriots fans greeted Gordon with a warm ovation when he stepped back on the gridiron, which was certainly a welcome sight, but some people seem to be having a problem with it, which is beyond my comprehension.
I understand that Gordon has made mistakes. Many of them. I get that he has wasted away much of what could have been a Hall of Fame-caliber NFL career. But taking issue with fans cheering him in his comeback is, for lack of a better word, heartless.
People can't seem to comprehend the fact that addiction is not an easy thing. Drug addicts and alcoholics don't want to take drugs and drink. Their body tells them they have to.
And in the case of Josh Gordon, this is something he has been doing since middle school.
The problem we tend to have as a society is that we immediately blame the addict's actions on themselves. It's their fault. They're responsible. They don't know who they're hurting.
All of the usual, trite platitudes that do absolutely nothing to help the situation.
What we tend to ignore is the series of events that led to the addict going down their dangerous road.
Bad parenting. Bad environment. A loss of self.
Nobody just wakes up one day and decides to do drugs for fun. It's the result of a pattern of past trauma that ultimately leads them to trying to dull their pain. Enter cocaine. Enter heroin. Enter pills. Enter alcohol. You name the drug. It doesn't matter.
I am speaking from an experience. As someone who lost a cousin—who was like a brother to me—at 30 due to a drug addiction, I know what it's like, and I saw his friends suffering through the same problems.
The one thing they all had in common? A horrendous upbringing.
My cousin was a terrific person. Would do anything for his family, even for those that hurt him. A heart of gold. A phenomenal football player who actually had a shot of playing in the NFL. But wounds from a young age as a result of neglectful—and downright abusive—parenting haunted him throughout his life up until his death and robbed him of any chance of being successful on this earth.
His best friend, who I remain in contact with until this day, had the same issues. He is alive today, but still battles with drug and alcohol abuse. And guess what? His mother died of a drug overdose when he was younger, and his father was largely M.I.A.
I won't pretend to know anything about Gordon's upbringing, because outside of the little tidbits he has provided about how he began abusing drugs and alcohol in middle school, he has not revealed much.
But when a child begins consuming drugs and alcohol around the age of 12 or 13 (middle-school years), something is not right at home.
We can talk about the “collateral damage” drug addicts cause to those around them, but what about the collateral damage done to them?
I've seen it before. Not just with my cousin and his friends, but with others, as well. They get addicted to drugs as a result of a poor home life, and then everyone else begins playing the victim. It's not about the addict anymore. It becomes a pity party for the absentee parents, the injurious siblings or friends, whatever.
As if the addict is openly trying to hurt everyone else and isn't engaged in a helpless, ongoing internal battle with themselves, attempting to discover their purpose in life while also desperately trying to stop.
For outsiders looking in, it seems pathetic. How can you be so weak? How can you be so irresponsible? All you need to do is just stop picking up the damn bottle.
But you have no idea what that person is going through, what they went through and what they feel like they may continue to go through. Suicidal thoughts become a daily thing for some addicts, but we don't seem to care.
Be a man. Grow up. You can't keep blaming your past for everything you're doing now.
It's a running theme in this country, which is why we continue to get parents who are so awful. We live in a time where everyone but the drug addict is devoid of responsibility even though everyone else is the reason the drug addict is in their current position.
The more we let bad influences off the hook, the more situations like Josh Gordon's will happen. The more people will struggle every day. The more people will die far, far too young.
Again, I know nothing about Gordon's upbringing. None of us do. But like I said: it's blatantly obvious to anyone who has any sense that something, somewhere, must have gone wrong to cause him so much pain.
I don't want to hear any of your callous, nonsensical “he did this to himself” takes.
I'm not denying that Gordon does bear some responsibility here. While I do think childhood trauma is the primary reason for addiction, there does come a point in time when you have to finally take some control over your life and move on.
He is 28 years old, and time continues to tick off of his NFL career, and, more importantly, his life. With every drug he takes and every drink he ingests, he is doing that much more damage to his body.
So, yes. It is time for Gordon to shake off his demons.
But don't sit there on your high horse and pretend that he isn't even trying, and don't tell me about the “collateral damage” he is causing to those around him when the damage to him has already been done by those same people.
I don't feel sorry for the guilty parties who have been affected by Josh Gordon. Miss me with that.
I feel sorry for Josh Gordon.
The good news is, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is plenty of time for Gordon to beat this, and it is going to take support from everyone around him.
Keep cheering, New England. It might end up saving Josh's life.
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