Browns WR Josh Gordon Says He Smoked Or Drank Before Every Game Of His Career

In an interview with GQ.com, Browns WR Josh Gordon admitted that he wasn’t sober for “probably every game of his career.”

“I used to make a ritual of it before every game,” Gordon said. “If I had already been drug tested that week, or the day before the game, I knew I had a couple days to buy to clean my system. Even before I was getting tested for alcohol, prior to my DWI in 2014, I would take the biggest bong rip I could. And try to conceal all the smell off all my clothes. I’d be dressed up to go to the game. A bunch of guys smoke weed before the game. But we’re not talking about them.

“I would have these little pre-made shots. I used to love Grand Marnier. I could drink it down smooth. I could usually drink a lot of it. But if it wasn’t that, it might be a whiskey or something. And I would drink probably like half a glass, or a couple shots to try and warm my system up, basically. To get the motor running. That’s what I would do for games.”

Gordon explained that players were allowed to go home and get what they need before games, at which point he’d smoke some weed or drink alcohol before heading to the game.

“We would stay at the team hotel and then players are allowed to go back home, get what they need, and then go to the game,” Gordon said. “So I’d leave the hotel early morning, go home, eat breakfast, do my little ritual, whatever it may be, some weed, some alcohol, and then go to the game. And then, I’d definitely be partying after every game, win or lose. Every game.”

Gordon that this includes his time in college and even during the back-to-back games in which he posted over 200 yards receiving.

According to Gordon, he’s now trying to remain sober and turn around his NFL career for his daughter and himself.

“The past times, every time I would try to stop, it would be for the wrong reason. It’d be a publicity stunt; it’d be for somebody else; it’d be for the coach, or whomever thought it was in my best interest to try to do that,” Gordon said. “Last time, I wanted to do it to save my career. Just for the job. [Now] I have the positive reinforcement and motivation of having a daughter and stuff like that, but kids can’t save you in that aspect. Only thing saving me at this point and time, and the difference between now and then, is that I’m doing it for myself. And I want something more for myself. I’m trying to do it for myself. I could give a fuck what anybody else is doing, honestly, at this point and time.”

Gordon will return to the Browns’ facility on Tuesday and meet with the team after he was conditionally reinstated by the NFL last week.

Adam Schefter confirms the news and adds that the Browns hope Gordon will be ready to play in time for their Week 13 game against the Chargers in Los Angeles on Dec. 3.

Gordon, 26, is a former second-round supplemental pick of the Browns back in 2012. He would have already been an unrestricted free agent had he not missed so much time due to suspensions, but the Browns hold his rights for two more years, given that he has just two accrued seasons.

In 2014, Gordon appeared in five games and caught 24 passes for 303 yards receiving, but didn’t score a touchdown.