NFL Rumors: Melvin Gordon Slammed For Making Inappropriate Tweet About Lions Kicker
With the NFL heading into the third week of regular-season action, star running back Melvin Gordon remains stalemated with the Los Angeles Chargers and has yet to play a single down this season due to issues regarding his current contract. There have been multiple rumors hinting at possible trade offers involving the 26-year-old Pro Bowler, but by the looks of things, the Detroit Lions likely won’t be among those potential suitors.
According to USA Today’s Lions Wire, Gordon took to Twitter during the Chargers’ Week 2 game against the Lions on Sunday, sending out a “cringe-worthy” post directed at Detroit kicker Matt Prater, who, in the first half alone, missed one field goal attempt and one extra point for his team. Despite those missed attempts, the Lions still went on to edge the Chargers, 13-10, at Ford Field in Detroit, improving to a 1-0-1 record. The Chargers, meanwhile, dropped to 1-1-0 after Sunday’s loss.
“Dear lions kicker, hahaha drinks on me after the game,” Gordon tweeted, adding three laughing-crying emoji to his message.
As opined by Lions Wire, the main issue with Gordon’s tweet was not how he “refuses to try and help his team win” by ending his holdout and agreeing to contract terms with the Chargers, nor the fact that Los Angeles kicker Ty Long also missed a field goal.
“Gordon’s ill-fated tweet makes fun of Prater’s well-documented alcoholism,” wrote Lions Wire‘s Jeff Risdon.
“The Lions kicker has been very open and honest about his battles with the bottle, and here’s a guy who won’t even bother to play in the game taking a cheap shot at Prater…in a game the team he refuses to help loses because (in part) their own kicking game isn’t very good.”
Risdon wrapped up his criticism of Gordon by saying that the running back’s tweet against Prater was in “very bad form.”
Melvin Gordon will report to Chargers this season, holdout "is not a Le'Veon Bell" situation, per @JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/QvF5YXKtRa
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 13, 2019
Similarly, many Twitter users were unhappy with Gordon’s comments about Prater, with one user pointing out that his replacement, Austin Ekeler, has proven that the former University of Wisconsin star is “replaceable at a fraction of the price.”
Another user said that with the Lions picking up the close win, Gordon’s tweet “did not age well.”
The 35-year-old Prater, who joined the Lions in 2006 as an undrafted free agent, voluntarily entered a rehabilitation treatment for alcohol addiction in 2014 while under suspension for four games for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, as previously reported by ESPN.
Although there have been no signs in recent days that Gordon plans to end his holdout anytime soon, an earlier report from The Inquisitr suggested last week that, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the running back is expected to return to the Chargers by late October or early November.
