Though the NFL hardly needs another reminder of the gambling problem it’s currently facing, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio dropped another big story related to the recent rise of sports betting. Though it’ll have no direct NFL consequences — no rules were violated and no suspension will follow — someone’s wallet was really hurting after last season.
Per Florio, an unnamed NFL player lost $8 million gambling on sports last year. While players aren’t allowed to gamble on the NFL, they’re free to bet on other sports games and events, provided it isn’t done inside the team facility.
Here’s the relevant quote from PFT.
“Per a league source with knowledge of the situation, one NFL player lost $8 million last through gambling in 2022.”
The report provides no further details about who the player was or what he bet on though clearly, it’s someone who was making good money last year. Unless, of course, this player turned to borrowing money. That may sound silly but is something that’s happened before, specifically during the 2011 lockout when players were going to broke and turning to loan sharks just to get by, forcing the union to sign an unfavorable CBA just to get players paid again.
Over the last several months, gambling has been in the NFL news for all the wrong reasons. A wave of players, mostly Detroit Lions and headlined by WR Jameson Williams, were suspended in April for violating the league’s gambling policy. Williams received a six-game ban for betting inside the team facility but not on NFL games. Others were suspended indefinitely, at least a year, for betting on the NFL. More recently, Colts DB Isaiah Rodgers found himself in the league’s crosshairs for betting, even on his own team reportedly, which will produce the same indefinite suspension and perhaps even a harsher punishment.
Last year, Atlanta Falcons WR Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entire season after he was caught gambling. He’s been reinstated by the league and is now a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, looking to restart his career.
Gambling in the NFL isn’t new. In 1963, Paul Hornug and Alex Karras, two Hall of Famers, were suspended for the entire season over gambling. They returned to the league the next year.
But in this modern era where it’s as easy as ever to bet, no bookie needed, it’s becoming a bigger problem for the league. Thursday morning, NFL Executive Jeff Miller joined Good Morning Football to detail the league’s gambling policy.
It’s a message that will hopefully get through to players. Each team has talked about the issue too. Earlier this month, Cam Heyward noted Mike Tomlin openly talked to the team about the gambling policy, essentially telling players to just not do it in order to reduce any risk of accidentally violating the policy.
Florio has made the point that the league seems to have a double-standard. Those employed by the NFL but don’t play for a team can’t gamble period. Tomlin can’t bet on any game no matter the sport or event. But if you’re a player, you can bet on anything that isn’t football. Perhaps the league can curb these issues by having a broader gambling ban. It would be clearer for the players, a 100% no-go zone, rather than somewhat complicated and unclear rules that allow a player to say, bet on the NBA one foot outside the team facility but not the moment he steps onto team grounds.
