Bill The Redeemer

As the song goes, some people got real problems...

It's not like pigskin pundits and bobbleheads are openly rooting for Josh Gordon to fail but it isn't like - whatever the line is for games played in a Patriots uniform - are betting the over. To be fair, given his past, it's hard to feel confident Gordon will remind anyone of 2007 Randy Moss, despite the comps the most wildly optimistic citizens of Patriots Nation have made.

People who don't know Josh Gordon have decided that either New England's highly regimented, football first, last, always, check your ego, do your job ethos will be the best thing that ever happened to Gordon or the worst idea ever. As to those gridiron cognoscenti who hold to the latter opinion, they may be surprised Gordon is still in Foxborough after less than a week. Either way, I don't think any of those people are doctors so, well, whatever I guess.

I'm rooting for Josh Gordon and not just because he's a Patriot. I was rooting for him in Cleveland. His battle with his personal demons, with social anxiety, with drugs and alcohol is relatable for anyone who's had a friend or family member who has faced a battle with addiction or with mental illness. Or dealt with those issues directly. And that's pretty much all of us.

I know I'm not alone but I also know there are those who are rooting against Gordon in part because he was traded to the Patriots. Rooting for Gordon means you're rooting for the Patriots. Yes, I think the pigskin mathematicians attempting to prove Gordon = Moss 2.0 don't really understand math or temporal physics or just how special Randy Moss was in 2007 but giving Tom Terrific the Flash at wide receiver just seems unfair (a word often associated with the Pats).

Haters and trolls notwithstanding, Josh Gordon coming to New England, playing in the Super Bowl and catching the game-winning touchdown would be a great redemption story and a movie with Chadwick Boseman in development by the time the confetti hit the field but more importantly it might mean the literal difference between life and death for Josh Gordon.

Bill Belichick has never cared about what any player did before he came to 1 Patriot Place or at least publicly has never admitted to it. As it's been well documented, Gordon is not the first player with dark chapters in their past who has made his way to New England. Brian Cox, Corey Dillon, Michael Floyd, Albert Haynesworth, or the aforementioned Randy Moss (to name just a few) all brought a complete set of luggage with them. Some succeeded and some failed but they started with a blank slate; they bought in and did their job or they didn't. Still, it is telling that Gordon was set up in a locker right next to Tom Brady.

I have to believe Belichick spoke to Brian Hoyer who was with the Browns in 2013 when Gordon burned NFL defenses to the ground before making the trade. I believe Belichick talked to Josh McDaniels and the Patriots captains before making the trade. I think it's more likely the New England locker room is a good thing for Gordon than the scene of his last failed attempt to convert his talent into success.

We'll see how it goes.