Clase’s MLB career over because he placed prop bets on himself.
Unbelievable.
Unconfirmed but a strong strong rumor he is done pitching in MLB.
Get ready for a lot of this garbage.
Have to. Baseball might make it.
Basketball jumped the shark when Stern closed the Donaghy investigation and refused to extend it.
Football is in serious trouble and everybody here that is here for football is going to feel this badly and intimately if they don't get it together.
I said in the Shark Pool that Isaiah Rodgers, MN cornerback, he of the pick-six and then forced fumble, fumble recovery, and return for his second touchdown of the day in the first half alone against Cincinnati this past Sept. 21—not to mention his 145 return yards in that half to go along with those two scores that he and only he was really physically responsible for!—well, he met with a curious press after his game and the next day things were written about him. An incredible performance, right? Well, friends, read these. You would think that his career had begun in Philly and the Vikes—your Vikes!—just signed him as a free agent! Rejoice!
The New York Times, the paper of record, wrote about it:
Minnesota Star Tribune, the local paper, wrote extensively about it
Then it went national
Newsweek covered it!
Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers scored twice in the first half against the Bengals as part of a statistical feat that is unmatched in NFL history.
www.newsweek.com
CBS News did!
Isaiah Rodgers is having the game of his life
www.cbssports.com
Fox News! Let's get everybody on the spectrum here!
Isaiah Rodgers made NFL history with a pick-six, fumble return touchdown and two forced fumbles as the Minnesota Vikings defeated Cincinnati Bengals, 48-10.
www.foxnews.com
Or you could have been me during the game thinking about draft picks and all sorts of weird thoughts while watching it.
Did anybody ever notice that MN corner this year against Cincinnati? The pick-six and then the forced fumble, scoop, and score? That dude?
Did y’all know that that guy—that particular CB, Isaiah Rodgers—had been suspended for an entire year by the NFL for gambling not just on the NFL, but for gambling on his own team?? He was released by the Colts for betting prop bets on his teammates and a bet came from his account that bet a grand on a prop bet for Jonathan Taylor's rushing over/under, which is something he either denies or doesn't because the reporter never clarifies what the reporter is asking or what Rodgers's weirdly-worded answer means.
Anyway, he was suspended for a full year for wagering on an event he was participating in. Nobody said peep one about it that I knew of, and they were giving a background story at some of the sites and in some of the media outlets. Not a word. Didn't they know this?
So what did ESPN say about it? The Worldwide Leader In Sports?
Well, they've covered this story. Big story.
Isaiah Rodgers Sr., who has been released by the Colts and suspended by NFL, says bets from his online account, including on his own team, were made for others.
www.espn.com
"Rodgers also said he understands the inevitable questions that will arise when people consider the reasons behind his suspension -- like whether he ever altered the outcome of a game because of a bet.
"I studied too hard and too long and worked too hard to even get to this position to go out there and say, 'I'm going to make this guy catch the ball and score a touchdown on me just for $25, $50 bets.' Nah, that's not even the type of person I am.'" - John Barr, ESPN, 2/1/2024
My personal opinion (and it might be just me) is that he sounded both vague and slightly dismissive of the seriousness of it, even though he did take full responsibility and acknowledged the problem and seemed to get the gravity of it up until his explanations, which sounded weird, vague, strangely-worded, and thus evasive to me. I actually blame the reporter, who needs to clarify even if the reporter seems or sounds uncool because they don't understand the slang or they have cross-cultural confusion with language and idiom.
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, in his first season as a full-time starter, became the first player in league history to score two defensive touchdowns and force two fumbles in a game, capping his club's 48-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
www.espn.com
So what does ESPN do about the feature they ran on that day, which is linked above? Well, they said this.
"Rodgers, a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft by the
Indianapolis Colts, spent three seasons as a reserve before he was suspended in 2023 for violating the NFL's gambling policy. He signed with the
Philadelphia Eagles for the 2024 season, when he was a part-time player with nine starts, before the Vikings signed him in March." Kevin Siefert, ESPN.com, 9/21/2025
Ah, I see. Well at least they mentioned it. But does that capture the gravity of betting on your own contests? It sounds like they're reporting a traffic citation that had no mens rea.
Anyway, ESPN reported that his Minnesota teammates were "lost for words" when they were asked to describe his feat. They hadn't seen anything like it, they said. Oh, "lost for words," huh? Well, my droogies, so was I that day reading the papers.
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