There’s no doubt sports betting has been growing across the United States year by year, but what about professional athletes gambling in their own leagues? There have been increases in policy changes and updates, with a major one for the National Football League just this past year. Some fans are having trouble keeping up with all of the drama.
Everybody knows that if you play in the NFL there isn’t an excuse to ever be placing sportsbook bets on anything league-wide, let alone on your team or even yourself, but what many players are misunderstanding is the rules on other professional teams.
Updated as of mid-August 2024, there are six main rules for the players. The most controversial one is: “Don’t gamble (no bets on sports, casino or card games) at your team facility/stadium while traveling for a road game, or staying at a team hotel.” The reason this can be confusing is what players interpret as “traveling” or what their facility is.
An anonymous player told ESPN he, along with other players, thought the rule was “dumb and pointless” — if someone is 10 feet away from their team’s facility then it is acceptable to gamble, but take a step inside and it isn’t.
Tennessee Titan wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended indefinitely in 2022 for violating the NFL’s gambling policy; he ended up missing 29 straight games with all the mental affects adding up. Kansas City wide receiver Rashee Rice is only facing a “multi-game punishment” for driving drunk, getting into a high-speed crash, fleeing the scene, as well as damaging six vehicles. To compare those two incidents, one of them should face a larger punishment than the other because Rice’s situation could have caused multiple people to die, and Ridley’s didn’t.
With all the talk about different enforcements upon this gambling issue, it makes it seem that it is such a prevalent issue, but only 1% of the players get suspended for it. Now, compared to other violations such as domestic disputes and DUIs, there seems to be a skewed side to this that the NFL takes.
In 2023, ten players were suspended for violating the NFL’s gambling policy, with seven of them taking indefinite punishments and three taking six-game suspensions. This may seem bad, but when you look at other players suspensions it just doesn’t seem equal.
For example, in 2022, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson agreed to a settlement with the NFL for only an 11-game suspension for sexual misconduct. Without going too deep, Watson was accused of taking his massages too far sexually without consent. Comparing these two crimes, and seeing the punishments that came from both, it seems that there is a side the NFL has taken on what they see as worse.
