CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Michael Irvin says that fellow Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter's "ass is out of line'' for urging the Browns to cut Josh Gordon in the wake of his DWI arrest last week.

Irvin, who gave a motivational speech to the Browns last summer, became a mentor to Gordon through his friendship with former Browns coach Rob Chudzinski and former offensive coordinator Norv Turner and knows Gordon personally.

"I was so hot when I heard it,'' Irvin told Dan LeBatard on Wednesday on Miami's The Ticket radio station, via the Palm Beach Post. "I was so hot. You know, I love Cris Carter and he's a good dude and I know what he's trying to do and he's doing his job because his job is to bring his experience to the desk, to a microphone, and share his experiences.

"But he's touching these lines, just like I'm touching when I'm trying to help guys, and you're on TV. You have to toe a thin line here, you have to toe a very thin line. People consider you, like, 'you talked to Josh so you must know more. If you said they need to cut him, then my God, maybe they should cut him.'

"Now, isolation for Cris may have been the best thing. Separation, for Cris, may have been the best thing. For Josh, maybe it's the worst thing.''

Irvin, who like Carter has battled his own drug addiction, emphasized that everyone's situation is different. Carter's point, both to cleveland.com and on ESPN's Mike and Mike show, was that being released by the Browns would be Gordon's catalyst to getting clean, just like it was for him when Eagles coach Buddy Ryan cut him in 1990.

"This is a brain disease,'' said Irvin, who planned to encourage Gordon to attend Larry Fitzgerald's pro receiver camp in Minnesota this summer. "Addiction is a brain disease. You know, we act as if 'how can you make that decision? You must be stupid.' He's not. That's why they call substances dope. Because it makes you less intelligent and you make the poor decision. It's a brain disease. And it affects everybody differently.

"You know, what worked for Cris -- when we're talking about true recovery -- may not work for the other, so you can't make a blanket statement and just say 'worked for me, it'll work for him,' because that's not necessarily the truth and I thought it was a bit irresponsible. We have to be very careful in this position given the situation where you're trying to help people. ...and then also turn around, saying 'I'm mentoring and I'm helping.'

"The people start thinking that you have insight on the situation, so when you come out and make those kinds of comments and you're not in his sessions with his professional help, you don't know what's going on in those sessions, then you're being irresponsible. I was a bit disappointed Cris Carter made that statement.''

Irvin then shared that he felt Carter also crossed the line with Irvin when Irvin was struggling with substance abuse.

"I'm going to (get) a little personal on this even though I love Cris to death,'' said Irvin. "I don't know what year it was we were in the Pro Bowl. And all Cris is trying to do, he's just trying to share his experiences. He said to my wife -- he said to my wife -- 'you know, Michael would never come out of this problem until you leave him. Till you leave him.' For years, I've held it. I've never shared that with anybody. I've never in my life shared that with anybody. I was so irked with Cris because he was out of line then. His ass is out of line now. He is out of line.''

A source told cleveland.com that the Browns are working hard to get Gordon help in the aftermath of the DWI, during which his blood-alcohol level was .09. The arrest came in the midst of Gordon awaiting word on his indefinite ban from the NFL for at least his third violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

Gordon's appeal hearing is set for later this month.