Gordon encourages grads to celebrate sober

Chargers cornerback Cletis Gordon teamed with Mothers Against Drunk Driving Thursday to promote an alcohol-free graduation season.
When Chargers cornerback Cletis Gordon was wrongly accused of driving under the influence nearly three years ago, he decided to take a strong public stance against drinking and driving to assure everyone that’s something he just doesn’t do.

“I wanted people to know that’s not me, so I got involved with MADD,” Gordon said. “Drinking and driving is a terrible thing. I speak to kids about the dangers of drinking and driving all the time.”

Thursday afternoon, Gordon joined Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s county-wide “Sticker Shock” campaign. Gordon, along with teenagers from local high schools, visited two San Diego-area grocery stores where he helped the young people place stickers on alcoholic beverages reminding adults that it’s illegal to purchase alcohol for minors.

“With summer starting and all the graduations, people are having a lot of parties,” Gordon said. “We want the teens to ‘celebrate sober.’ The main way that teenager drink is they get adults to purchase alcohol for them. The stickers are a reminder that that’s against the law and it’s dangerous.”

Gordon rattled off the statistics by memory Thursday as he spoke with the teens. More than 5,000 youth die each year from underage-drinking-related causes, including alcohol- related traffic fatalities, homicides, suicides, and other unintentional injuries.

“It’s not about the trouble you can get into, it’s about the people you can hurt when you drink and drive,” Gordon said. “I just want people, especially teenagers, to understand that.”

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