Davone Bess appears to tweet out photo of marijuana; Browns will investigate

The NFL has no precedent for suspending a player over a tweet. (William Purnell/Icon SMI) Wide receiver Davone Bess may find himself in some hot water after
Davone Bess appears to tweet out photo of marijuana; Browns will investigate
Davone Bess appears to tweet out photo of marijuana; Browns will investigate /

The NFL has no precedent for suspending a player over a tweet. (William Purnell/Icon SMI)

NFL has no precedent for suspending a player over a tweet.

Wide receiver Davone Bess may find himself in some hot water after tweeting out a photo that includes what appears to be marijuana. Bess, who signed a four-year, $14.18 million contract with the Browns last offseason, finished the season on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list, reportedly while dealing with a family issue.

The Browns said in a statement, via Cleveland.com: "The team is aware of the photos and looking further into the situation and will deal with the matter internally."

In that same Cleveland.com report, league spokesman Greg Aiello declined comment on any possible punishment that could come Bess' way.

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Ironically, Bess worked his way into the starting lineup early in 2013 only after Josh Gordon was suspended for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. There's not any precedent for an NFL player to draw a suspension over a tweet -- Gordon likely would have to test positive for a banned substance to draw any substantial punishment from the league.

However, he's certainly put himself at risk for an in-house penalty, as well as increased attention from the league's drug testers in the coming season.


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Chris Burke
CHRIS BURKE

Chris Burke covers the NFL for Sports Illustrated and is SI.com’s lead NFL draft expert. He joined SI in 2011 and lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.