Josh Gordon‘s most recent attempt at NFL reinstatement did not end with him playing during the 2020 season. The former All-Pro will try his hand at something quite different soon.

Gordon will play in the recently launched Fan Controlled Football league, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

The NFL rescinded Gordon’s reinstatement officially last month. Previously, he was on track to return late last season as a Seahawk. The Seahawks re-signed the oft-suspended pass catcher last year, doing so after claiming him on waivers in 2019 and using him in five games that year. A suspension ended Gordon’s 2019 season as well.

Fan Controlled Football, with which ex-Gordon Browns teammate Johnny Manziel is affiliated, is a seven-on-seven league that allows fans to call plays. Gordon will play for the Zappers, with whom Manziel plays, according to the team’s owner.

Gordon and Manziel played together on the 2014 Browns, though neither played much that season. Brian Hoyer quarterbacked the Browns for most of the 2014 campaign, and a 10-game Gordon suspension — which was an unfortunate harbinger of things to come — shelved him for most of the year as well. During Manziel’s second and final NFL season (2015), Gordon served a season-long suspension. But they are evidently set to reunite in one of the more unusual football leagues to emerge.

The Seahawks kept Gordon on their roster after his reinstatement effort failed. He will be an NFL free agent on March 17. Nearing 30 and still suspended, Gordon would not stand to generate too much interest on the market this year.

Josh Gordon‘s latest path back to NFL action hit another snag Friday, and it is certainly fair to wonder if the former All-Pro wideout will receive another opportunity.

The NFL rescinded its conditional reinstatement of Gordon, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Seahawks wide receiver is again suspended indefinitely. The league reinstated Gordon late last year, but another setback left him unable to return to the field.

Connected to Antonio Brown throughout the offseason, the Seahawks instead re-signed Gordon. But the NFL did not clear him to return to action until Week 16. While Gordon’s reinstatement put him on track to play in that game, his latest stumbling block nixed those plans. Gordon has battled substance abuse throughout his career, which was sidetracked with a 10-game suspension in 2014. The 2013 first-team All-Pro missed both the 2015 and ’16 seasons and has not been the same player since the 2014 ban ushered in a run of hiatuses.

Overall, Gordon has been suspended nine times since becoming a pro. While most players in his situation have drifted out of the league, the 29-year-old receiver has continually managed to work his way back into the NFL’s good graces and receive additional opportunities. Gordon returned to the Browns in 2017, played in 12 games in 2018 and 11 in 2019. However, more substance-abuse trouble intervened in 2018 and ’19 to end Gordon’s respective seasons in New England and Seattle.

The Seahawks have shown steady support for the embattled playmaker, but after missing a third full season in his career, Gordon faces the prospect of never playing again.

The Seahawks won’t have Josh Gordon on the field this week, but head coach Pete Carroll says they will continue to keep him on the roster for the time being (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times). Gordon was on the cusp of reinstatement before it was all 86’d by the league office earlier this week. 

Gordon reportedly suffered a setback in his battle with substance abuse. Carroll declined to provide details on what happened, though he noted that Gordon is “frustrated” by the situation. The Seahawks, for their part, are undoubtedly disappointed, but they won’t give up on the ultra-talented wide receiver.

Despite Gordon’s latest indefinite ban — the ninth suspension of his career — the Seahawks re-signed him on a one-year deal in September. And, with word of his reinstatement, they were eager to see him serve as the No. 3 receiver behind D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Instead, they’ll continue to use David Moore as one of their top targets, with support from rookie Freddie Swain.

The Seahawks continue to be intrigued by his undeniable talent, but he is getting farther and farther away from his tremendous 2013 with the Browns. That was Gordon’s signature season with 87 catches for an NFL-leading 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns. Then, for the next two years, Gordon was out of football. Even with all the stops and starts, Gordon continued to flash. When he joined the Patriots in 2018, he managed 40 grabs for 720 yards and three TDs in just eleven games. Then, in December of that year, he was hit with yet another indefinite suspension.

The Seahawks, sans Gordon, will face the Rams on Sunday afternoon.

Josh Gordon won’t be making his return this week after all. The Seahawks were notified by the league office that he has not satisfied all terms of his conditional reinstatement (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times). 

Gordon has suffered a setback in his battle with substance abuse, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. The wide receiver will be permitted to attend team meetings and individual workouts, but he’ll be barred from practices or games until the matter is resolved.

Unfortunately, this is familiar territory for Gordon, who has been suspended nine times as a pro — mostly for from substance-abuse violations. Still, he excelled in a limited sample with the Seahawks last year, and the team happily re-signed him with the hope that he could serve as the team’s No. 3 receiver behind D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Without Gordon, they’ll continue to use David Moore as one of the leading supporters, plus rookie Freddie Swain.

Gordon, 29, caught 27 passes for 426 yards and a touchdown in eleven games for the Pats and Seahawks last year. In his five Seattle games, he averaged an eye-popping 19.9 yards per grab.

The Seahawks waived fellow wide receiver Penny Hart to make room for Gordon earlier this week. Hart remains unsigned, so the Seahawks may look to bring him back in the coming days.

Seahawks wide receiver Josh Gordon was conditionally reinstated by the league earlier this month, and according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, Gordon has thus far adhered to the terms of that reinstatement (Twitter link). He will join the team on the practice field tomorrow.

Though the 29-year-old wideout re-signed with Seattle in early September, he has not been eligible to practice. Instead, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, Gordon has been limited to working with the strength and conditioning staff. Apparently, that work has paid off, as Pelissero reports that Gordon is in excellent shape.

The saga of the 2013 receiving yards leader is quite familiar to NFL fans. Gordon has been suspended nine times since his pro career began in 2012, and most of those bans stemmed from violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy. The new CBA created a more lenient reality for non-PED drug violations, and Gordon, to his credit, has not given up in his quest to continue his playing career.

In 11 games with the Pats and Seahawks last season, Gordon caught 27 passes for 426 yards and a touchdown. His yards-per-catch average was a stellar 19.9 in his five Seahawks games, and things were seemingly going well with him in Seattle before he was hit with his latest suspension.

Seattle is jostling for an NFC West title, and Gordon could be a quality option for Russell Wilson in a receiving corps that also includes D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and David Moore.