Like most Seahawks, veteran linebacker K.J. Wright had only begun to get to know Josh Gordon before the news came down Monday that the team would have to say goodbye.
The league announced Monday that Gordon was indefinitely suspended for using both performance-enhancing drugs and substances of abuse. The suspension was the eighth of Gordon’s career dating to 2012 — and one that might finally end it — and as such could hardly be considered a complete surprise.
But to Wright and others in the Seattle locker room, the news still hit hard.
They insist the Gordon they got to know since he arrived Nov. 1 was at odds with any preconceived notions anyone might have had based on his history, which included the Patriots waiving him before the Seahawks picked him up amid rumors he was showing up late to meetings and otherwise not taking the job as seriously as New England wanted.
“He was coming here every day in practice, looking good,” Wright said.
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Wright had gotten to know Gordon a little better than some, sitting next to Gordon on bus rides to airports and to stadiums at away games.
“Whenever anyone comes in here we welcome them with open arms,” Wright said. “He was quiet, just came to work. He sat beside me on the bus and we had little small talk here and there about where you are living and how your body is feeling and all that. So there was no issues when he was here.”
But to Wright, Gordon’s situation caused him to think a little more about another job title he holds — players representative for the Seahawks for the NFL Players Association.
The NFL did not say what substance or substances triggered Gordon’s positive tests, but the suspension was for both PEDs and substances of abuse. That complicates things for Gordon, who, because of his past, was essentially subject to testing every single day.
But his suspension raised anew whether the league should still suspend players for positive tests for marijuana, especially in light of Major League Baseball’s decision — reached in concert with its players union — to drop punishment for marijuana and start testing for opioids and cocaine.
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Wright said he thinks marijuana will be among the items on the table when the NFLPA and the league negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement — the current deal expires after the 2020 season.
Wright called MLB’s move “a step in the right direction” and hopes the NFL will reconsider its policies.
“I think they need to look way more into it,” Wright said. “I think the old mentality of marijuana that it is just terrible for you and does bad stuff for you, I think they definitely need to look into it. I don’t know why that is still a rule and why that is the case.”
Teammate Bobby Wagner, who is Seattle’s alternate player rep (each position is voted on by players) was listening in as Wright spoke and was asked what he thought.
“Is it legalized in Seattle?” Wagner asked back. Told yes, he said, “Well there you go.”
Wright said he thinks there’s a chance the league will compromise on marijuana at some point.
“I think so, because at the end of the day, the whole PED thing is getting a competitive advantage,” he said. “Like, we know some things give you a competitive advantage and I don’t think marijuana gives you an advantage. … At the end of the day, what it’s all about is making things fair and competitive.”
But while Wright says players often ask him about the marijuana issue, he says it won’t be the No. 1 priority in the CBA discussions.
What will be?
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“Money,” Wright said, noting there are issues concerning how much of the share of the revenue pool players should get (currently 47%), playoff money, veteran minimums and what the players would get if the league were to expand to a 17-game season or more.
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“There are other things that are a priority as far as what we need to make happen,” he said of marijuana. “But I think that is definitely something we can talk about in the near future. And guys have come up to me and talked about it and we’re going to get to the bottom of it, because in my personal opinion, it’s not as bad (using marijuana) as people think.”
But as Wright spoke, he also made clear he didn’t want to stray far from the reason any of it was a discussion on Wednesday — the latest challenge for Gordon, who was officially a Seahawk for just 46 days.
“I was upset,” Wright said of Gordon’s suspension, which Wright said he heard for the first time when the league sent out its statement.
“I was hurt. And to see for this thing to control him like that, it’s pretty sad. And I don’t think it’s bad decisions. I just think it’s something that’s maybe wrong and I just hope he can get help and find help because obviously it is bigger than football. So hopefully whatever direction he goes in he is surrounded by good people and just good help to just figure this thing out.”
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