Josh Gordon Suspension Holds-One year

The Cleveland Browns received a crippling blow to any hopes of improvement for the 2014 season as the NFL upheld the one year suspension of Josh Gordon leaving the Browns precariously light at the wide receiver position.

First,let me address this-I'm in favor of a little bit of nuance.
When you consider that you take two samples for a drug test,one labeled A-the other B and A tested a hair over the limit,B was even further under the limit,so had B been labeled A,the test would not have even been positive,so that screams for a little bit of discretion.
Taking that in account,there should have been some gray area for a punishment that addressed the issue,yet considered the situation,for example a four to eight game suspension would have been palatable to me.

This really makes the league look bad with a year for a person that was around marijuana (I believe Gordon wasn't smoking,if he was he would have failed other tests and failed by a far more substantial margin) yet just two games for Ray Rice pounding his girlfriend in a public place and who know what minor slap Jim Irsay will get for his driving under a controlled substance situation?
Most likely,Irsay will give a tear-filled apology,pay a fine and write a check to a charity and we still have the Steelers LeVeon Bell and LeGarrette Blount for their Ridgemont Highesque pot possession pickup to contend with.

The Browns are culpable here as well as they knew that this could be coming and still refused to select a pass catcher in the draft.
Sammy Watkins would have made this far easier to swallow,but we now have to wait and see where the first rounder that the Browns obtained from Buffalo rates a year from now,while the 2014 Browns rely on Miles Austin (brilliant,but brittle),Andrew Hawkins,Nate Burleson and who knows what else for Brian Hoyer/Johnny Manziel to throw to.
If the Bills stink like the Browns could,Cleveland should be able to add two elite players next year,but might not help Mike Pettine any and since Pettine wasn't anyone's guy to begin with-don't be stunned if the Browns hire their 3rd coach in 3 years at the conclusion of the season.

And even though I'm sympathetic to the situation,I still blame Josh Gordon for being around pot.
He had to know that the league was gunning for him and he still (at best) put himself in a bad situation.
For that part,I hold Gordon accountable.

Roger Goodell is an awful commissioner in a sports world filled with them and in my opinion,Goodell dropped the ball again.
The problem is for Browns fans,there are few players around that can catch it....