Trust, Not Talent, Is Primary Factor in Le'Veon Bell and Josh Gordon Situations

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Le'Veon Bell and Cleveland Browns' Josh Gordon are the NFL's version of sirens. They're tantalizing and tempting but can only be embraced at one's peril. 

Talent supersedes most issues in the NFL, yet options start to wane if a player can't be trusted. 

A uniquely gifted person will often be granted multiple chances despite numerous mistakes. At some point, though, teams take a more cautious approach with an individual who hasn't shown an ability to put the team before himself. 

NFL training camps kick into full swing this week and two of the league's most talented players—Bell and Gordon—are expected to miss the first four regular-season games due to suspension.

It's not surprising in either case, and it creates trust issues between those players and their respective organizations.

Bell and Gordon will be counted among a group of suspended players that also features New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Unlike Brady, the running back and wide receiver don't have long track records of NFL success. Their track records are far more dubious.

Bell is facing a four-game suspension, as first reported by ESPN.com's Dan Graziano. This comes less than a year after missing the first two games of the 2015 campaign due to a league suspension, which stemmed from a 2014 arrest for DUI and marijuana possession charges.

Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Gordon on a conditional basis, per the Browns' official site. The megatalented target led the NFL in receiving yardage during the 2013 NFL campaign, but he's missed 33 of 68 career games due to suspension—including all of last season. 

Former Browns running back William Green understands their current positions better than most. Green displayed tremendous potential after being selected in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft. But he ruined his career by not prioritizing football over other distractions. 

"At some point, no matter how good you are, they’re not going to trust you anymore," Green told Bleacher Report in a phone interview. "I can finally remember getting my life together in Cleveland. I remember sitting there talking to the coaches who thought I was talented, but they told me, 'We just can’t trust you to make you our No. 1 guy because of things you’ve done in the past.'

"I pleaded with them, told them I was different and got my life in order. I had to deal with going through training camp knowing I was better than the other guy, but they wouldn’t play me because of the situation I put myself in.

"For some guys, the light never really goes on."

This is where teams get antsy. These current predicaments extend beyond the walls of Berea and Pittsburgh. Each NFL organization is waiting and asking itself, "Will the light ever really go on for Bell or Gordon?" Because every team is wondering what they would do if given the opportunity to acquire either. 

At this point, the two players appear to be on opposite sides of the spectrum regarding their situations. 

Bell is in Public Enemy mode and ready to fight the power. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport (via NFL.com's Conor Orr), the Michigan State product missed several drug tests. The running back argued he hadn't missed or failed any drug tests at last month's minicamp, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly. 

He took it a step further Sunday when he responded to an Instagram post that featured him wearing a bong gas mask. 

"I'm gonna win the appeal," Bell wrote. "[People] have no idea what happened, but don't worry...let em hate, when I end up missin no games at all, [people] for sure gonna try to love me again and I'm only ridin with my LOYAL fans!"

All of this sounds familiar. Why? Because we've heard this story before, and it involved Gordon. 

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Two years ago, Fox Sports' Alex Marvez theorized Gordon received a yearlong suspension due to a missed drug test. In the NFL, a missed test is considered an automatic fail. The wide receiver's representation threatened a law suit, and, ultimately, he served a 10-game suspension after the league tweaked its drug policy. 

None of this mattered when the league suspended Gordon for the entire 2015 season after he tested positive for alcohol, according to Rapoport. 

As the deadline for reinstatement approached, buzz built around the possibility of Flash's return. Instead, he suffered another setback. In April, Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo reported Gordon failed another drug test. The 25-year-old target downplayed the incident in a defiant manner. 

"Call me if [you] need a real story worth writing," he tweeted and eventually deleted, but not before Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio noted his response. 

The NFL placed the 2013 receiving champion in a holding pattern and gave him an opportunity over the next three months to prove himself worthy of reinstatement. He did so based on the NFL's expectations even though he'll serve another four-game suspension to open the 2016 campaign. 

Commissioner Goodell addressed his decision, courtesy of ESPN's Adam Schefter: 

"

As we discussed at our [July 19] meeting, as Commissioner, I want nothing more than to see you turn your circumstances around and succeed. Countless others including your agent, teammates and coaches, Mr. Haslam and the leadership of the organization, the Program professionals and Jim Brown also have pledged to provide you with every resource at their disposal. But as you acknowledged, ultimately, your future is your responsibility. I have every belief that you can make the right choices, but it will be up to you to do so.

"

Eventually, addicts run out of people to blame and must look inward to find answers. 

"Looking back at it, there were several times the NFL tried to educate me or people tried to talk to me," Green said. "My heart wasn’t into it then, and I wasn’t willing to accept what they tried to teach me. I can remember numerous times from the rookie symposium to the team bringing in speakers to educate us on all of these different things. I wouldn’t say it’s the NFL's fault. Eventually, you need to pay attention and receive the information they’re providing."

In order to reach the point Green discussed, an individual must hit their version of rock bottom. 

Nearly a year-and-a-half ago, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam wasn't in Gordon's corner. The truck-stop magnate stated Gordon "failed to accept that responsibility" for his actions and the resulting consequences, per Cleveland.com's Tom Reed. 

Former teammate and veteran safety Donte Whitner told the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot the wide receiver hit rock bottom when his weight ballooned to 255 pounds during last year's suspension. His normal playing weight hovers around 225 pounds. 

Personal growth must occur first before trust can be naturally built. It can't be forced. And it will only come when an individual owns his mistakes and attempts to make legitimate lifestyle changes. 

It's difficult, because league suspensions usually force a clean break from the entire organization. This is the worst thing the NFL could do to a player with off-field issues. 

"Absolutely, we need to give these kids another chance," said Green, who is now an ordained minister and spreads his message through Mike Hagen's Strength Team. "It’s not fair to discard them at all. But if a person continues to do the same thing over and over again, there is only so much you can do for them."

Green hopes to work with the NFL one day to address these types of cases and offered a solution. 

"Initially, we need to do a little more when something happens instead of a smack on the wrist," Green said. "Maybe it should be a big red flag. The NFL can act like it's the end of the line. Maybe if the first step is more severe, we can avoid the last steps and the league gets them the help they really need. We need to do all the things in Phase 3 or 4 of the program to nip things in the bud. Throw it at all them to educate them about what's actually going on to help that guy who has an addictive personality or will struggle with things."

"I took it in stride," Green continued. "The pressure of what I was supposed to do or how I was expected to perform never bothered me at all. I was always worried about the other things in my life. In the back of my mind, I always knew I was a good enough athlete and things on the field would take care of itself. But I needed to get myself together. How do I do that? I got lost in the lifestyle, and it was a really bad combination. Not really having anyone there to lead, guide or direct me...everyone told me what I wanted to hear because of what they wanted from me. No one told me the truth."

As part of Gordon's conditional reinstatement, the NFL made amends by allowing him to practice with the Browns and play in preseason games. Structure is important when poor influences can't be controlled outside a team's facility. 

The waiting game becomes the frustrating part. Patience isn't found in excess around the league. 

The Steelers shouldn't be as exasperated with Bell as the Browns are with Gordon (see: below), but Pittsburgh's patience should be wearing thin. 

Whether the running back can actually get his suspension reduced or lifted remains inconsequential. His situation speaks to a much larger issue, and it involves poor decision-making and/or putting oneself in a position where something negative can happen. 

For example, organizations aren't upset because a prospect fails a drug test at the combine in Indianapolis before the NFL draft. What's upsetting is the realization that the player failed a de facto intelligence test. 

How could anyone partake in any illegal substance knowing full well they're about to experience the biggest job interview of their lives—one that requires a drug test? 

The yearly drug tests the NFL doles out aren't any different. Individuals have a good idea of when they're going to be tested, as Gordon's former teammate Jason Pinkston stated on Twitter: 

The system is set up so players won't fail these tests. Yet some either aren't willing or capable of forsaking extracurricular activities to do so. The only other possible reason is they're not responsible enough to fulfill league-mandated responsibilities. 

This is why trust can be easily shattered and so hard to regain.

How a player produces on the field is only part of the equation. It's a big part and affords more leeway based on an individual's level of production, but it's a sliding scale. How talented a player is will dictate how many actual chances they'll eventually receive. 

The NFL is a bottom-line business. How teams truly feel about a player will be expressed via available contracts and the overall amount of years and money attached. 

Gordon is on the last year of his rookie contract, and he's scheduled to be a restricted free agent following the 2016 season. Bell, meanwhile, is an unrestricted free agent after this season. 

Neither of their current organizations should be proactive in handling either contract situation. Instead, a feeling-out period will ensue in the coming months. 

"Josh Gordon is serious about wanting to be [a] pro, so if he's done all things to clean up [his] past, we'd welcome him back," Browns executive Sashi Brown said in February, per Ohio.com's Nate Ulrich.

Brown clearly qualified his statement by mentioning Gordon's past. 

As for Bell, he will continue his fight, but he will find it difficult to get his suspension overturned, according to ESPN's John Clayton:  

If the suspension is upheld, the running back will be banned from football-related activities. 

Upon return, both will partake in 12-game auditions. They'll need to prove their talent is worth a significant contract—even though both have likely lost millions over the course of their careers due to previous actions—and build a new track record. Every day without an incident should be considered another step in the right direction. 

Everyone should be given an opportunity to prove themselves through second, third or even fourth chances, but sometimes these situations reach a point where enough is enough. 

Individual franchises make their own determinations. Some executives and coaches believe a player can be saved up until the point when his career comes to an unceremonious close. Others don't want to deal with the headache. 

Of course, Bell and Gordon aren't the only athletes suspended for the start of the 2016 campaign. Martavis Bryant, Aldon Smith, Arthur Jones and Johnny Manziel are just few names counted among the NFL's suspended. 

But these AFC North rivals' situations are the most intriguing. Both are 25 years old or younger with the talent to be considered the very best at their respective positions. They just haven't proved themselves worthy of being trusted. 

An innumerable amount of words have been said, argued or written about Bell and Gordon's actions and subsequent suspensions. It's time to let their talent speak for itself before both reach the point of no return.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @brentsobleski.