The NFL announced on Monday that Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley will be suspended at least through the 2022 season for gambling on NFL games. Former NFL head coach Tony Dungy implies that it’s hypocritical for the league to embrace and promote gambling and act surprised when a player gambles on games.
“When we as a league encourage everyone to bet on our games, advertise betting on our players’ game stats, take in big money from gambling sites & do everything we can to get our young people to embrace gambling — We can’t be surprised when this happens,” Dungy tweeted after the suspension was announced.
I get it too Andrew. But when we as a league encourage everyone to bet on our games, advertise betting on our players’ game stats, take in big money from gambling sites & do everything we can to get our young people to embrace gambling—We can’t be surprised when this happens. https://t.co/Yhn4MwTiaL
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) March 7, 2022
Of course Dungy is right. Turn on an NFL game and you are besieged by ads telling you to bet, sign up now and get up to x amount of your bets matched, etc. It’s crazy.
The NFL jumped into the deep end with legalized online gambling and sportsbooks. What did they think would happen? They’d collect the hundreds of millions in revenue and not have any league employee making bets of their own?
Yes, players betting on the game is “wrong.” But Ridley wasn’t with the team when made those bets. A technicality, but fair to bring up.
The league opened Pandora’s box by getting into bed with the sportsbooks. Now it’s on them to accept the good with bad. Cashing those checks is great for the people in charge, but now it’s also on them to ensure this doesn’t become a problem.
I bet 1500 total I don’t have a gambling problem
— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) March 7, 2022
I couldn’t even watch football at that point
— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) March 7, 2022
Just gone be more healthy when I come back
— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) March 7, 2022
I know I was wrong But I’m getting 1 year lol
— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) March 7, 2022
If you know me you know my character
— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) March 7, 2022
Ridley took to Twitter amid the aftermath of the news of his suspension. He tweeted he doesn’t have a gambling problem, and he knew he was wrong but one year seemed excessive.
One year does seem excessive, especially given that players accused of domestic abuse and other serious crimes have gotten lesser suspensions. But the NFL has shown it doesn’t care about players or league employees committing those kinds of violent crimes, because that doesn’t affect the “integrity of the game.”
“There is nothing more fundamental to the NFL’s success — and to the reputation of everyone associated with our league — than upholding the integrity of the game,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter notifying Ridley of the suspension. “This is the responsibility of every player, coach, owner, game official, and anyone else employed in the league. Your actions put the integrity of the game at risk, threatened to damage public confidence in professional football, and potentially undermined the reputations of your fellow players throughout the NFL.”
The “integrity of the game,” the sacrosanct Goodell and every sports commissioner trots out to defend their actions.
Since we’re talking about integrity, Rog, we hope that you take the same level of seriousness when investigating the allegations made by Brian Flores in his federal lawsuit against the league.
Among the many scathing allegations is that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores $100,000 a loss so the team would tank enough to get the top pick in the draft.
If that is true it’s game-fixing which goes to the core of sports betting fears. That speaks directly to the “integrity of the game.” If Ridley gets one year, surely Ross should be removed, right?
As the multibillion dollar league continues to grow with revenue, it’s going to become increasingly more difficult to continue the charade of “integrity.”
More news from our partners:
Black-Owned Brands Get Lift as Big Retail Invests to Help Them Scale
