Just under one-and-a-half years have passed since former Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon last saw action in an NFL game.
Gordon, playing for the Baltimore Ravens at the time, appeared in four regular-season contests late in the 2023 season, totaling 81 yards on 26 carries and scoring one touchdown.
But since then, Gordon has not received much interest from NFL teams, keeping him off the gridiron for the past 17 months.
In an interview with NFL media personality Kay Adams on the "Up & Adams" show, Gordon expressed pessimism about a potential comeback materializing.
"I went the whole year last year without playing and, just being out a whole year, it's not easy to just go back in there, you know what I mean? You've been doing something for 20 years, and then to take a year off, that's a long time. So, it's just kind of up in the air with everything," Gordon told Adams. "Right now, I'm just kind of comfortable golfing and kind of spending extra time with the family and friends."
Houston Texans linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis (57) pushes Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon III (25) out of bounds in the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High.
Houston Texans linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis (57) pushes Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon III (25) out of bounds in the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Gordon added that playing running back, a position not well-known for longevity, also puts him at a disadvantage when it comes to mounting a comeback.
"I understand my position. As a running back, being out a year and being 32, it's just not that easy," Gordon told Adams. "They like younger backs – they're cheaper, they come in – so, you can't really fight that. It's not a position like a receiver where you can come in and kind of steal some years. Our position kind of don't work like that."
Gordon first rose to prominence in the collegiate ranks, where he had one of the best individual seasons in recent memory as a senior at Wisconsin. He ran the ball 343 times, scoring 29 touchdowns and gaining 2,587 yards, finishing 41 yards shy of Barry Sanders' all-time NCAA FBS single-season rushing record. Gordon, unsurprisingly, went on to win the Doak Walker Award, which is given annually to the top running back in college football.
The Los Angeles Chargers (based in San Diego at the time) took Gordon with the No. 15 overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, and he went on to a fruitful nine-year career in the league. He made two AFC Pro Bowl rosters and won a championship ring with the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LVII, even though he had never been added to the team's active roster.
In his time with the Chargers, Broncos, and Ravens, Gordon logged 1,593 carries for 6,543 rushing yards and 56 touchdowns.