Monday, July 7, 2014

The Confusing Cases of Josh Gordon, PJ Hairston and A Common Thread

The first wrong doer of the weekend: Suspended Cleveland Browns WR Josh Gordon. Gordon, who unquestionably is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL, has had more than his fair share of skirmishes with the law and with substances.

Gordon sat for 2 games in 2013 for legal issues and there is a real fear in the Browns camp and by friends of Gordon that he has a substance abuse problem. Gordon was pulled over early Saturday morning in Wake County, North Carolina on suspicion of DWI. Gordon tested at a .09 which is just over the state's .08 limit for intoxication.

And Gordon could be facing a 1-year suspension on the heels of this arrest as what the league would term--a "Repeat Offender"....

On the heels of Gordon's arrest, comes word the former University of North Carolina basketball star and Carolina Hornets draftee P.J Hairston was charged with assault and battery Sunday afternoon when he reportedly punched a teenager during a pickup game in Durham.

Now comes this word---CBSSports.com reports the vehicle driven by Gordon Friday night...is owned by Hairston.

Really?

And it gets better.

Apparently the man who paid Gordon's $500 bail Saturday morning....

None other than a man named Haydn "Fats" Thomas.

And why do you ask is a man named "Fats" of interest? Well, Thomas's named surfaced as the owner of a car Hairston was arrested in back in 2013. Hairston had marijuana on him at the time and the arrest signaled the end of his UNC hoops career.

Oh...Thomas apparently is a convicted felon with a long, long track record of arrests.

Read the CBSSports.com story RIGHT HERE

Confused? Yeah, you should be. Let's try to explain:

The common thread here appears to be either Hairston and/or Thomas. That connection is indirectly tied to the multitude of problems facing the UNC Athletic programs.

What doesn't make sense is Gordon's connection to it. It's very obvious he has a substance abuse problem and his career as a football player is in jeopardy. It should be. He needs to figure out how to get his act together. Be it rehab or somewhere else....

As for Hairston and Thomas--we are thinking the connections will take care of themselves. It sure appears that there may be some issues with what Thomas gave Hairston while in school. And while we're sure the school is investigating, it sounds...to say the least...a bit fishy.

The Raleigh News and Observer's Laura Keeley pieces together Fats' life in a great piece hyah...

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