As someone who has worked with addicts and alcoholics, for some years, the words of caution and concern are worth heeding carefully, even if as fans we imagine, we hope for, we crave to the point of distraction (and why the hell not) the joy of athletic splendour rather than the squalor of dependency, and the sorry loyalties to substances that the syndromes and conditions is ailed with.
I have known folks who devoted their lives to avoiding every trigger, attending every meeting, talking every walk imaginable, who we later found had got four OUIs in a month's time. Other people were distant, skeptical, and even stuporous, and were successful almost despite themselves. I had a very dear friend try and fail at getting clean from heroin about 15 times, with no success, but the 16th time was a success. Four years now. Why, we don't know.
If Josh is indeed triggered by the flotsam and jameson of the football season, and the stress of competition, then he is going to have a tough time, and as P'tawket suggested, might be better served away from the game. But perhaps there are other, different triggers away from football. God knows, everyone has different buttons, and on/off is just one of the possibilities.
Everyone should be pulling for Gordon...and the NFL reaction and statement is remarkably coherent and compassionate. Wow. Wtf. Terrific.
But it is also worth noting something true here that is always true in addiction../the difficulty for him of "crawdad success". What I mean is, when I have dealt with addicts and alcoholics, a slip-up, even a bad one, is not the end of the world. A father and husband has been clean for 47 out of 49 days, after using daily and destructively for 3 years. Is that a success? We considered it one. That's pretty awesome...not the goal, but still a huge accomplishment.
For Josh, and for many addicts I will admit, that is not victory, or mostly victory. That is failure, for such is the system he is facing. Whatever one's personal thoughts on addiction and abstinence and 12-step principles...he faces the additional hurdle of an (probably) implacable judge.
I certainly wish him well. Hope he scores 12 TDs and has an amazing time doing it and that we see him playing backgammon with Ernie Adams in December. I'm not hopeful, but I do hope. He is still just a young man, and his failure at this stage might wreck him. His success, OTOH, would be a tremendous story, not for football only, but for faith, life, and sobriety.
Much luck Josh. 12-10=2nd chance Gordon. Go for it.