Cleveland Police: 'Josh Gordon Was Not Arrested At the Airport'

CLEVELAND, OH — Following the surprise announcement that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon would take a break from playing football to check himself into an in-patient rehabilitation facility, a rumor started that Gordon tried to smuggle a pound of marijuana onto an airplane at Cleveland-Hopkins and had been stopped by TSA .

That rumor is false, Cleveland police said Friday.

The department tweeted out its denial of the rumored incident at 1:15 p.m. saying, "Josh Gordon was NOT arrested at a Cleveland airport. The Cleveland Police wish him well in his recovery."

The story of Gordon's attempt to smuggle marijuana onto the plane started on a blog on Thursday and spread quickly across the internet. Several news outlets have since deleted their version of the story.

Gordon announced he was taking a break from football yesterday in a joint statement with the team. He said:

“After careful thought and deep consideration, I’ve decided that I need to step away from pursuing my return to the Browns and my football career to enter an in-patient rehabilitation facility. This is the right decision for me and one that I hope will enable me to gain full control of my life and continue on a path to reach my full potential as a person. I appreciate the support of the NFL, NFLPA, the Browns, my teammates, my agent and the community through this extremely challenging process.

Gordon has had several actual run-ins with the law and has run afoul of NFL policies more than once. Gordon's most recent controversy: failing to respond to subpoenas in a paternity case. Christina Lockhart of Maple Heights filed a complaint against Gordon in juvenile court last July, stating that he is the father of her 1-year-old daughter.

Gordon has previously failed both drug and alcohol tests, and he sat out all of last season while serving a substance abuse-related suspension.

Photo via Rick Uldricks, Patch