Ilov80s
Footballguy
I think players will learn, we are just in a transition period where the NFL is taking all of this money, online gambling is suddenly everywhere and we have young competitive men who all of a sudden are flush with cash.
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Gambling supsensions (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter BobbyLayne
- Start date
rockaction
Footballguy
This is astounding that the players don't know you can't bet on football. This was like Rule 101 as a kid growing up. You don't bet on your own sport or you get banned/suspended. It's that simple. If this were baseball, we'd be talking life suspensions. Crazy.
I see the hypocrisy argument quite a bit and am not seeing it. It's not hypocritical to allow and support something and also have rules surrounding it. Maybe they're walking a line and it will blow up in their faces but this does not seem to be an uncommon approach. I work in the financial services industry and i can make trades but there are restrictions and rules in place, this seems kind of similar.
General Malaise
Footballguy
There is nowhere else for professional football players to play.
ghostguy123
Footballguy
Did Jameson bet on football?
General Malaise
Footballguy
What would happen to you if you traded a security the same day your firm did?
rockaction
Footballguy
No, he didn't. But Calvin Ridley did. That's who I was referring to. It's still well-known among athletes not to bet even on other sports as it seems untoward. But I was talking about Ridley.
Max Power
Footballguy
I get that aspect of it, but now we're comparing national security protocols to online sports gambling. Those two things aren't in the same ballpark.
I'd also say depending on level of infraction, a person isn't going to be suspended for months and forfeit 1/3 of their salary.
ghostguy123
Footballguy
Athletes have been betting on other sports forever man.
rockaction
Footballguy
Check your local nine and Keenesaw Landis and get back to me on that. There was a huge taboo against gambling after the Black Sox and up and until Pete Rose. Anybody saying any differently was not alive during that time or doesn't know the history of sports and sports gambling. ANY outcome that could be influenced by ANY gambling by sports players is and was truly verboten. You're assigning way too much slack to an issue that traditionally hasn't gotten any.
I think there are a lot of apologists on this board that don't remember their sports history or coverage about gambling even on other sports. And that's all I'm going to say on the issue, because frankly, I'm right and the counter argument isn't.
rockaction
Footballguy
Sorry to sound arrogant, but we heard of other players gambling on other sports precisely because it was so taboo. Taboo enough that there were significant rumors of a Michael Jordan forced absence from basketball because he merely liked to gamble heavily at the card tables and THAT was taboo and extrapolated to "he might be gambling on sports and even basketball." That's how taboo the subject and purported action was. UNLV In the hot tub with mobsters was national news.
Taboo taboo taboo. Everybody knows and knew.
Taboo taboo taboo. Everybody knows and knew.
Last edited:
rockaction
Footballguy
And the leagues and channels that got in bed with sports gambling are stupid for this exact reason. It's calling into question the integrity of the games and players. These partnerships and sponsorships are truly monumentally stupid all around.
I have to submit a trade for approval through our compliance system. If it got denied and traded anyway, probably would be terminated. If I made a trade without submitting, if it were deemed an accident would prob get a warning or two. If it was determined it was intentional and I was being deceitful would prob be terminated.
ghostguy123
Footballguy
What am I arguing? Just saying that players gamble, lot of them, and they gamble on sports, and always have.
Marauder
Footballguy
That's all ancient history. Under the current NFL rules, it is legal for players to bet on other sports as long as they don't do it at their team facilities. That's all explained to them when they enter the league. Lot's of things that used to be taboo are not taboo anymore.
rockaction
Footballguy
I wasn’t saying you were. I was talkin bout other people seem to be arguing or insinuating
rockaction
Footballguy
Well I’ll be!
babydemon90
Footballguy
While I don't have a problem with the rule, the argument "they are allowed to set rules, therefore they can't be criticized for setting a rule" is a non-serious take. People know they are allowed to set gambling rules, some people just disagree with them. Personally think they're fine and when you're a participant in a sport with billions of dollars on it, avoiding even the appearance of impropriety is a good rule. But its cool if people disagree and dont like it.
BassNBrew
Footballguy
Just my opinion, but I think the impact of me finding out the actual address where my son works vs the impact of players gambling on games aren't in the same ballpark. Now I could be wrong and he might be driving the satellite that's listening to Putin bang a hooker, but I suspect the average US citizen is more concerned about the integrity of NFL games than whatever task gets assigned to an engineer that happens to have a top clearance level.
Catbird
Footballguy
Yes, clearly different. The point is that if your employer, your labor union and your contract all agree that you will be suspended without pay if you do something they clearly think it is important that you not do, don't do that thing unless you are okay with getting suspended without pay. Pretty basic.
I get that people don't all look at the world the same way. Many may think the NFL teams shouldn't make a big deal of not qllowing their employees gamble on sportd, particularly where that can be seen as employment activity if employees are doing it at work while being paid. Okay to dislike the rule. Stupid to not follow it, unless you are good with the suspension.
I get that people don't all look at the world the same way. Many may think the NFL teams shouldn't make a big deal of not qllowing their employees gamble on sportd, particularly where that can be seen as employment activity if employees are doing it at work while being paid. Okay to dislike the rule. Stupid to not follow it, unless you are good with the suspension.
Max Power
Footballguy
I understand the rules are the rules argument. Where the NFL loses me is over the claims of protecting the integrity of the game. How does player X making a bet on baseball game at the team facility impact the integrity of the NFL, but that same bet placed at another location doesn't?
Then a 6 game ban for it? You get less games for assault or deflating footballs.
Then a 6 game ban for it? You get less games for assault or deflating footballs.
ghostguy123
Footballguy
I'm still convinced many of the players didn't even know the rule. As in, you can bet baseball anywhere but at the team facility.
pinkstapler
Footballguy
Through this entire thread I can't shake having the same two thoughts again and again. "Personal accountability is becoming a thing of that past; not only for individuals, but even more alarmingly, for the collective as they are continually supporting it's death and excusing individuals from it." Which is quickly and loudly followed by, "My lord, they were right all along, I have become my father." Lol.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
I didn't know the details but is that what JW did and got a 6-game ban? Bet on MLB from inside the Detroit Lions facility while he was busy working out, watching film, and rehabbing so he could get on the field for the Lions?
That's a bad message but they must feel if they get comfy making bets in the facilities that they will start making bets on the NFL, it's not logical but that is their thinking for some reason.
Max Power
Footballguy
I don't know what sport he bet on, but yeah they geotagged the bet to the lions practice facility.
I don't think we've heard if it was during a team event or heck he could have been sitting in the parking lot after a rehab session and placed it.
I think you're probably on to the NFL's line of thinking, but the slippery slope argument is a weak one.
Why does it have to be a strong argument? It's their rules. Follow them
ghostguy123
Footballguy
I imagine my company has a hundred rules I don't know about. If I break one of them, I doubt I get suspended 1/3 of the year or fired.
With this gambling thing being at the forefront I really doubt the players were unaware of this rule.
ghostguy123
Footballguy
They are aware there are gambling rules. I highly doubt they knew/know the intricacies of these rules.
If it was that much in the forefront, how come none of us knew these rules? Why didn't Goodell do a quick press conference about the gambling rules?
Both the players and the NFL look dumb here.
Max Power
Footballguy
Because they cite the integrity of the game and can't correlate the two.
ghostguy123
Footballguy
I agree. If you bet on Witchita State in the locker room you are much more likely to point shave as opposed to betting on Witchita State from your living room.
Why was a press conference needed for the public? I don't need to know the NFL rules on gambling. I am sure the NFL put out a information to every team and player outlining the rules and what is expected. I am sure every agent got the same information to relay to their players. I am sure there was plenty of information out there for the people that actually needed to know the rules to know the rules.
The correlation is don't gamble. They don't want any hint of impropriety that players gambling can affect games in any way.
wlwiles
Footballguy
And it's not like the NFL just made a ton of rules about gambling and then the players automatically have to follow them no matter what. The NFLPA agreed to the rules. If you don't want to risk getting suspended, don't freaking break the rules.
Max Power
Footballguy
But that isn't the rule. The players are allowed to gamble on non NFL games. There are just certain locations the NFL has a problem with.
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
Reportedly Jameson Williams was in the team hotel on a road trip when he committed his violation (not the teams practice facility as folks have been posting in this thread.)
That hasn't been confirmed by the players or their agents but it's being widely reported.
BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
NFL should investigate itself
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
You have to confirm your location on the app when you place a bet. Mobile sports betting is now legal in 26 states, up from 18 in January 2022. If you’re not in one of the 26 states (confirmed by your location) then you can’t complete the transaction.
Edit: short answer on your specific Qs is IDK. Haven’t seen anything indicating how exactly the NFL determined the violations. I presume their gambling partners supplied the logs of the suspected players but to the best of my knowledge that hasn’t been confirmed.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
The more I see, the more whack these suspensions seem.
I wonder if they can be reduced on appeal?
I wonder if they can be reduced on appeal?
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
posted the link above but folks won't click on it
NFL players on gambling policy, suspensions: ‘That could have been any one of us’
Kalyn Kahler
Jun. 5, 2023
The Athletic spent the last week interviewing NFL players around the league to ask what they know about the league’s gambling policy and found that four of the five players didn’t know they couldn’t place mobile bets on other sports while at work, the violation Williams and Berryhill were suspended for.
“I had no idea,” said a free agent with seven years of NFL experience. “I don’t think any player knows about that. That’s so specific. If players know about that, kudos to them.”
All five players knew they couldn’t bet on NFL action, but the rest of the details, the majority weren’t so sure about. Two of the five said that they have placed bets on other sports using mobile apps during their NFL careers.
“I thought that you couldn’t bet on anything during the NFL season,” said a nine-year NFL vet (in an incorrect reading of the NFL’s gambling policy). “I didn’t really look into it beyond that.”
“I don’t even know what the rule is, or when the rule changed or the fine print on what you can or can’t gamble on,” said a 10-year veteran.
The nine-year veteran said that last offseason he got into betting on golf tournaments using a mobile app registered under his own name. Before he placed his first bet, he checked with an NFLPA player rep to ask if he was okay to be doing that. The rep told him it was fine. He lost every bet he placed and has since deleted the app from his phone.
A year later, this player was still so unsure about the gambling policy that he asked The Athletic to double-check that betting on golf outside of work is actually allowed. (It is.)
The four players currently participating in the offseason programs said that they have received more information on the gambling policy from their coaches since the NFL announced the five player suspensions in April.
“They detailed the rule, and to that point I hadn’t been in many team meetings that they carved out time for it,” said the nine-year veteran. “It’s like a page in your training camp compliance meetings. They spend like four minutes on it.
“It’s like, yeah, don’t gamble on the NFL. You guys know this. Nobody spends time on it.”
The free-agent veteran player called Williams and Berryhill “sacrificial lambs.” All five players agreed that the NFL and the NFLPA need to do a better job at teaching the gambling policy to players, particularly in an environment where four teams have a sportsbook in their stadium or the immediate vicinity and the league has official partnerships with FanDuel, DraftKings and Caesar’s.
“I mean, New Orleans plays in the Caesars Superdome,” the nine-year veteran said. “I think it’s something that they’ve got to explicitly talk about.”
The Athletic granted each player anonymity to allow for honest conversation about a topic that has quickly become one of the most pressing issues of the offseason.
Do you gamble on sports?
Player 1, a seventh-year free agent: No. I’ll hear guys talking about gambling on basketball or take this spread, but I’ve stayed ignorant about it. I lowkey have an addictive personality. “Ooh, I can make a couple grand just by betting this?” It’s a hand in the cookie jar. It’s like a gateway drug.
Player 2, a ninth-year backup: Yeah, I like betting on golf. It would be like, if I was with a buddy, and we were watching golf on the weekend, we’d bet on who would win the tournament (on FanDuel). I don’t want to make it sound like a major part of my offseason, not to sound like a degenerate. I heard that these companies are giving the NFL all the data. Obviously, you have to sign up as yourself and they can pin your location. I’m sure they know who everybody is, in terms of if you play in the NFL or not.
Player 3, a 10th-year starter: The only time I’ve ever bet is when I’ve gone to the casino and play roulette. When I first came to the NFL, (sports betting) was super, super, super frowned upon. There wasn’t any gray area to what is possible and what’s not. When I first came to NFL, the NFL stayed far away from gambling, and gambling stayed far away from the NFL.
Player 4, a second-year practice squad player: Nope. I’m not risking it. Honestly, for real, like I have a fear of getting suspended before I even really get into my prime of playing. I don’t even want to test it.
Player 5, a fourth-year backup: My rookie year, I might have dabbled with some parlays during the NBA Finals, but not since then. I’ll go into the casino every now and then, but sports betting is not my thing. I was just giving away money. I lost about $500. I don’t think I won anything. They were all parlays, so it was win big or go home.
How did your team teach you about the policy? What did you know about it before the recent suspensions?
Player 1: They would talk about it the first day of camp or the first couple days of camp. Each day, they talk about new rules, so I’m assuming they talked about that, but there’s so much s— that they just cram in front of our face that it’s easy to get lost. After a long day of camp, then we have to have these evening meetings and go over this stuff. Do you think everyone’s minds are in the right place of like, “Oh, wow, I’m really thinking about gambling?” No, I’m thinking about practice and how I hope they don’t cut me.
Player 2: I know we’ve been educated on it since these last couple incidents. Calvin Ridley, the guys in Detroit, and a few others. I didn’t know the details and the fine print of the league gambling policy. There were little tweaks every year. … Obviously, I knew you couldn’t bet on the NFL. I thought that you couldn’t bet on anything during the NFL season. That was my interpretation of the rule. That just wasn’t coming up for me, so I didn’t really look into it beyond that.
Player 3: It comes up every year. I want to say either before training camp, like the first couple of days of training camp, or around maybe mandatory minicamp. They go through like the league policies, which is the security stuff, the rules. So they go over different domestic violence stuff, gambling stuff, that’s all part of a big two-to-three-hour admin information meeting.
Player 4: We talk to the NFLPA, and the NFLPA gives us rules and tells us not to gamble on the sport and what will happen if you do stuff. We really get all our guidelines and rules from the NFLPA, and Roger Goodell sending out his letters. I think we had one team meeting about it, but I really can’t remember. “Don’t gamble on the sport, because there will be consequences behind it.”
Player 5: We actually just had ours last week. And pretty much just went through the whole policy and protocol, kind of what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. All the policies and all the admin stuff is just a one-time meeting.
NFL players on gambling policy, suspensions: ‘That could have been any one of us’
Kalyn Kahler
Jun. 5, 2023
The Athletic spent the last week interviewing NFL players around the league to ask what they know about the league’s gambling policy and found that four of the five players didn’t know they couldn’t place mobile bets on other sports while at work, the violation Williams and Berryhill were suspended for.
“I had no idea,” said a free agent with seven years of NFL experience. “I don’t think any player knows about that. That’s so specific. If players know about that, kudos to them.”
All five players knew they couldn’t bet on NFL action, but the rest of the details, the majority weren’t so sure about. Two of the five said that they have placed bets on other sports using mobile apps during their NFL careers.
“I thought that you couldn’t bet on anything during the NFL season,” said a nine-year NFL vet (in an incorrect reading of the NFL’s gambling policy). “I didn’t really look into it beyond that.”
“I don’t even know what the rule is, or when the rule changed or the fine print on what you can or can’t gamble on,” said a 10-year veteran.
The nine-year veteran said that last offseason he got into betting on golf tournaments using a mobile app registered under his own name. Before he placed his first bet, he checked with an NFLPA player rep to ask if he was okay to be doing that. The rep told him it was fine. He lost every bet he placed and has since deleted the app from his phone.
A year later, this player was still so unsure about the gambling policy that he asked The Athletic to double-check that betting on golf outside of work is actually allowed. (It is.)
The four players currently participating in the offseason programs said that they have received more information on the gambling policy from their coaches since the NFL announced the five player suspensions in April.
“They detailed the rule, and to that point I hadn’t been in many team meetings that they carved out time for it,” said the nine-year veteran. “It’s like a page in your training camp compliance meetings. They spend like four minutes on it.
“It’s like, yeah, don’t gamble on the NFL. You guys know this. Nobody spends time on it.”
The free-agent veteran player called Williams and Berryhill “sacrificial lambs.” All five players agreed that the NFL and the NFLPA need to do a better job at teaching the gambling policy to players, particularly in an environment where four teams have a sportsbook in their stadium or the immediate vicinity and the league has official partnerships with FanDuel, DraftKings and Caesar’s.
“I mean, New Orleans plays in the Caesars Superdome,” the nine-year veteran said. “I think it’s something that they’ve got to explicitly talk about.”
The Athletic granted each player anonymity to allow for honest conversation about a topic that has quickly become one of the most pressing issues of the offseason.
Do you gamble on sports?
Player 1, a seventh-year free agent: No. I’ll hear guys talking about gambling on basketball or take this spread, but I’ve stayed ignorant about it. I lowkey have an addictive personality. “Ooh, I can make a couple grand just by betting this?” It’s a hand in the cookie jar. It’s like a gateway drug.
Player 2, a ninth-year backup: Yeah, I like betting on golf. It would be like, if I was with a buddy, and we were watching golf on the weekend, we’d bet on who would win the tournament (on FanDuel). I don’t want to make it sound like a major part of my offseason, not to sound like a degenerate. I heard that these companies are giving the NFL all the data. Obviously, you have to sign up as yourself and they can pin your location. I’m sure they know who everybody is, in terms of if you play in the NFL or not.
Player 3, a 10th-year starter: The only time I’ve ever bet is when I’ve gone to the casino and play roulette. When I first came to the NFL, (sports betting) was super, super, super frowned upon. There wasn’t any gray area to what is possible and what’s not. When I first came to NFL, the NFL stayed far away from gambling, and gambling stayed far away from the NFL.
Player 4, a second-year practice squad player: Nope. I’m not risking it. Honestly, for real, like I have a fear of getting suspended before I even really get into my prime of playing. I don’t even want to test it.
Player 5, a fourth-year backup: My rookie year, I might have dabbled with some parlays during the NBA Finals, but not since then. I’ll go into the casino every now and then, but sports betting is not my thing. I was just giving away money. I lost about $500. I don’t think I won anything. They were all parlays, so it was win big or go home.
How did your team teach you about the policy? What did you know about it before the recent suspensions?
Player 1: They would talk about it the first day of camp or the first couple days of camp. Each day, they talk about new rules, so I’m assuming they talked about that, but there’s so much s— that they just cram in front of our face that it’s easy to get lost. After a long day of camp, then we have to have these evening meetings and go over this stuff. Do you think everyone’s minds are in the right place of like, “Oh, wow, I’m really thinking about gambling?” No, I’m thinking about practice and how I hope they don’t cut me.
Player 2: I know we’ve been educated on it since these last couple incidents. Calvin Ridley, the guys in Detroit, and a few others. I didn’t know the details and the fine print of the league gambling policy. There were little tweaks every year. … Obviously, I knew you couldn’t bet on the NFL. I thought that you couldn’t bet on anything during the NFL season. That was my interpretation of the rule. That just wasn’t coming up for me, so I didn’t really look into it beyond that.
Player 3: It comes up every year. I want to say either before training camp, like the first couple of days of training camp, or around maybe mandatory minicamp. They go through like the league policies, which is the security stuff, the rules. So they go over different domestic violence stuff, gambling stuff, that’s all part of a big two-to-three-hour admin information meeting.
Player 4: We talk to the NFLPA, and the NFLPA gives us rules and tells us not to gamble on the sport and what will happen if you do stuff. We really get all our guidelines and rules from the NFLPA, and Roger Goodell sending out his letters. I think we had one team meeting about it, but I really can’t remember. “Don’t gamble on the sport, because there will be consequences behind it.”
Player 5: We actually just had ours last week. And pretty much just went through the whole policy and protocol, kind of what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. All the policies and all the admin stuff is just a one-time meeting.
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
(continued)
Has your team done more to educate you on the policy since the April suspensions?
Player 2: Yeah. At that point, (the head coach) said there’s another investigation. It’s a problem now with phones and how easy it is to do this. How many years ago was it that you could legally place bets on your phone?
Player 3: They put like, informative sheets in our locker. They just cleared up the rules, and that may have come from the PA. I didn’t really look at it. I don’t sports bet, so it didn’t have any relevance to me.
Player 4: I remember my position coach saying something. He told us not to bet or anything on sports, don’t even put ourselves in a bad spot.
Player 5: They’ve definitely clarified it a lot more with the material they gave us. Everything was pretty much the same from last year, they just made a bigger deal with the whole gambling thing in general. They threw some examples out there and said they can track the platforms, like track logins and locations, so you get caught digitally now.
Did you know that players are not allowed to place a sports bet on team property, which includes places like team planes and hotels?
Player 1: I don’t recall seeing (signs that said) no gambling on team property. … I’m pretty sure a lot of guys have actually broken that rule.
Player 2: No. I didn’t know you can bet on other sports outside of anything team-related like any team facility or anything? I guess that’s legal. That’s what I found out.
Player 3: When I came into the NFL, it wasn’t even possible to bet from the facility. That wasn’t something that was actually possible until like the last four to five years as more states have legalized it. Do you go to the app store and just download these apps? It is not something that I’ve ever done because it was super illegal. It wasn’t in a gray area where you can get an app, and you can bet on sports from here or from there. That never existed.
What do you think about the six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL action on team property?
Player 1: That’s bogus because straight up, that’s not talked about like that. That could have been any one of us. They might have talked about it for a brief second, but do you know the player was present at the time you guys talked about that? “Oh, well it’s in the handbook.” So you’re gonna tell a player to read 1,000 pages of nonsense and to recall everything? … You could make the argument for everybody, because people are betting during rivalry week — Florida is playing Florida State, Ohio State vs. Michigan — everyone is betting on that. Could all those guys get in trouble?
Player 2: I understand where the league has gotten themselves into a little bit of a quagmire here, because 10 years ago, gambling or any kind of talk like that was forbidden. But now, the sponsorships, and how big sports gambling got, they eventually had to embrace it a little bit, but then they’ve got to make sure it doesn’t leak into the player and coach side as best they can. So they’ve got their hands full with this going forward.
Player 3: I believe players are being stupid, but I do think that the NFLPA can do a better job of addressing the situation and just kind of clearing it up for athletes, coming out and making a clear statement saying like, this is what you can or can’t do. Because obviously, people are going to bet regardless. That’s pretty clear with what we’re seeing. So I think it’s on the NFL, I think it is on the NFLPA — and I also just think it’s on guys not being smart.
Player 4: Obviously, you tell us not to bet on our sport. We get that. But if somebody gets in trouble for betting on another sport, I don’t think they made that clear enough for players. … We play football, and I think we should have the right to do what we want with our money. You’re trying to take money from somebody that’s doing something with their money to make more money — and it’s not in a bad way, either.
Player 5: I do think a lot of people benefit from (gambling) in our league that don’t share — they don’t allow the players to. But I get it, it keeps guys safe. It keeps football the focus. We’re employees, so at the end of the day they call the shots.
Has your team done more to educate you on the policy since the April suspensions?
Player 2: Yeah. At that point, (the head coach) said there’s another investigation. It’s a problem now with phones and how easy it is to do this. How many years ago was it that you could legally place bets on your phone?
Player 3: They put like, informative sheets in our locker. They just cleared up the rules, and that may have come from the PA. I didn’t really look at it. I don’t sports bet, so it didn’t have any relevance to me.
Player 4: I remember my position coach saying something. He told us not to bet or anything on sports, don’t even put ourselves in a bad spot.
Player 5: They’ve definitely clarified it a lot more with the material they gave us. Everything was pretty much the same from last year, they just made a bigger deal with the whole gambling thing in general. They threw some examples out there and said they can track the platforms, like track logins and locations, so you get caught digitally now.
Did you know that players are not allowed to place a sports bet on team property, which includes places like team planes and hotels?
Player 1: I don’t recall seeing (signs that said) no gambling on team property. … I’m pretty sure a lot of guys have actually broken that rule.
Player 2: No. I didn’t know you can bet on other sports outside of anything team-related like any team facility or anything? I guess that’s legal. That’s what I found out.
Player 3: When I came into the NFL, it wasn’t even possible to bet from the facility. That wasn’t something that was actually possible until like the last four to five years as more states have legalized it. Do you go to the app store and just download these apps? It is not something that I’ve ever done because it was super illegal. It wasn’t in a gray area where you can get an app, and you can bet on sports from here or from there. That never existed.
What do you think about the six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL action on team property?
Player 1: That’s bogus because straight up, that’s not talked about like that. That could have been any one of us. They might have talked about it for a brief second, but do you know the player was present at the time you guys talked about that? “Oh, well it’s in the handbook.” So you’re gonna tell a player to read 1,000 pages of nonsense and to recall everything? … You could make the argument for everybody, because people are betting during rivalry week — Florida is playing Florida State, Ohio State vs. Michigan — everyone is betting on that. Could all those guys get in trouble?
Player 2: I understand where the league has gotten themselves into a little bit of a quagmire here, because 10 years ago, gambling or any kind of talk like that was forbidden. But now, the sponsorships, and how big sports gambling got, they eventually had to embrace it a little bit, but then they’ve got to make sure it doesn’t leak into the player and coach side as best they can. So they’ve got their hands full with this going forward.
Player 3: I believe players are being stupid, but I do think that the NFLPA can do a better job of addressing the situation and just kind of clearing it up for athletes, coming out and making a clear statement saying like, this is what you can or can’t do. Because obviously, people are going to bet regardless. That’s pretty clear with what we’re seeing. So I think it’s on the NFL, I think it is on the NFLPA — and I also just think it’s on guys not being smart.
Player 4: Obviously, you tell us not to bet on our sport. We get that. But if somebody gets in trouble for betting on another sport, I don’t think they made that clear enough for players. … We play football, and I think we should have the right to do what we want with our money. You’re trying to take money from somebody that’s doing something with their money to make more money — and it’s not in a bad way, either.
Player 5: I do think a lot of people benefit from (gambling) in our league that don’t share — they don’t allow the players to. But I get it, it keeps guys safe. It keeps football the focus. We’re employees, so at the end of the day they call the shots.
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
(continued)
How have you seen the league’s relationship with gambling evolve over the course of your career?
Player 1: This is literally transforming right in front of all of us as we speak.
Player 2: You can’t watch a sporting event on TV without a FanDuel or Pointsbet commercial, and a lot of times there are athletes advertising it. It’s been normalized so much in society that it’s inevitable it’s gonna leak into sports in terms of having to address it with players and coaches. If you wanted to gamble 10 years ago, you had to go through some bookie, I’m sure. You really had to want to gamble. Now, the way it is marketed — and the access is so easy — it’s crazy.
Player 5: I didn’t realize how many NFL owners are part of the sports betting business. My coach was telling us the role they played. It’s just wild. That owners are making money, and they own some of those sports betting platforms.
How have you seen the league’s relationship with gambling evolve over the course of your career?
Player 1: This is literally transforming right in front of all of us as we speak.
Player 2: You can’t watch a sporting event on TV without a FanDuel or Pointsbet commercial, and a lot of times there are athletes advertising it. It’s been normalized so much in society that it’s inevitable it’s gonna leak into sports in terms of having to address it with players and coaches. If you wanted to gamble 10 years ago, you had to go through some bookie, I’m sure. You really had to want to gamble. Now, the way it is marketed — and the access is so easy — it’s crazy.
Player 5: I didn’t realize how many NFL owners are part of the sports betting business. My coach was telling us the role they played. It’s just wild. That owners are making money, and they own some of those sports betting platforms.
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
NFL agent Peter Schaffer said the first time he received a copy of the league’s gambling policy was in April, when the NFLPA circulated it to agents in an email on the same day that the league announced the five player suspensions. Another veteran agent said he’d also never read the policy before then.
“It is unconscionable that the NFL is disciplining players for doing things that are completely legal in our society,” Schaffer told The Athletic. “The policy is ambiguous, and the education is nonexistent.”
Both agents said that since the April suspensions, they have heard from players confessing they now know they’ve violated the league’s gambling policy.
“I have a player who has said to me, I bet from the facility, $3 or $5 bets on other sports,” said the second veteran agent, who asked for and was granted anonymity so his client could not be identified.
“He said, ‘What do I do?’ I said, ‘Don’t volunteer anything. But if somebody asks you, you have to be honest. They likely have evidence.'”
The second agent assembled a graphic to send to his players, an easier-to-digest format than the league’s arcane five-page document. The Athletic spoke to five more NFL agents frustrated with the recent suspensions who think that the players’ union isn’t doing enough to push back on the length of the six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL action while at work, as the league’s gambling policy is not collectively bargained.
“It is going to be a big problem around the league because a lot of players are gamblers,” another agent granted anonymity said in a text message. “I haven’t heard of a player gambling on an NFL game, but pretty much everything else.”
The NFLPA did not respond to a request for comment.
During his interview, the 10-year veteran asked a question about the recent player suspensions: “Which guys have been north of five or six years in the league?” The answer: none. Williams and Berryhill entered the NFL in 2022, Toney in 2021, Cephus in 2020 and Moore in 2019.
“It makes so much sense,” he said. “These guys — kids, whatever you want to call them — they’re the first generation of athletes to have sports betting actually at their disposal coming into the game. I definitely can see how this early wave of people are younger players.
“I don’t think it’s something that ever is going to stop,” the veteran player continued. “It’s going to come down to how many people are getting caught.”
“It is unconscionable that the NFL is disciplining players for doing things that are completely legal in our society,” Schaffer told The Athletic. “The policy is ambiguous, and the education is nonexistent.”
Both agents said that since the April suspensions, they have heard from players confessing they now know they’ve violated the league’s gambling policy.
“I have a player who has said to me, I bet from the facility, $3 or $5 bets on other sports,” said the second veteran agent, who asked for and was granted anonymity so his client could not be identified.
“He said, ‘What do I do?’ I said, ‘Don’t volunteer anything. But if somebody asks you, you have to be honest. They likely have evidence.'”
The second agent assembled a graphic to send to his players, an easier-to-digest format than the league’s arcane five-page document. The Athletic spoke to five more NFL agents frustrated with the recent suspensions who think that the players’ union isn’t doing enough to push back on the length of the six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL action while at work, as the league’s gambling policy is not collectively bargained.
“It is going to be a big problem around the league because a lot of players are gamblers,” another agent granted anonymity said in a text message. “I haven’t heard of a player gambling on an NFL game, but pretty much everything else.”
The NFLPA did not respond to a request for comment.
During his interview, the 10-year veteran asked a question about the recent player suspensions: “Which guys have been north of five or six years in the league?” The answer: none. Williams and Berryhill entered the NFL in 2022, Toney in 2021, Cephus in 2020 and Moore in 2019.
“It makes so much sense,” he said. “These guys — kids, whatever you want to call them — they’re the first generation of athletes to have sports betting actually at their disposal coming into the game. I definitely can see how this early wave of people are younger players.
“I don’t think it’s something that ever is going to stop,” the veteran player continued. “It’s going to come down to how many people are getting caught.”
BobbyLayne
Footballguy
How much is social gambling a part of the locker room culture?
Player 1: There’s a specific niche of people in the locker room. Some of these guys are just so damn rich, they just need to burn some money. No kids, no family, you’re making two, three million a year, and then get your money all at once, and then your alma mater is playing and it’s like, “Hey, let’s put down 10 grand on this.”
Player 2: Guys are more interested in casinos.
Player 3: I did start to see (sports gambling) becoming more popular about four years ago. I started to see more people speak on betting more openly.
Player 5: People gamble for sure. It’s a locker room full of competitors who love to win. And that doesn’t stop, you know, off the field. Guys got money. You can find a bunch of different games in different locker rooms.
Player 1: Guys were playing dice in the locker room, and things heated up and someone threw a punch. … A player got popped in the jaw! I witnessed it happen, and I was like, “This is why I don’t gamble. This is why I don’t want to deal with any of you guys.”
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sorry, had trouble with the copy/paste.....for some reason it picks up junk and thinks you're exceeding the character limit
Player 1: There’s a specific niche of people in the locker room. Some of these guys are just so damn rich, they just need to burn some money. No kids, no family, you’re making two, three million a year, and then get your money all at once, and then your alma mater is playing and it’s like, “Hey, let’s put down 10 grand on this.”
Player 2: Guys are more interested in casinos.
Player 3: I did start to see (sports gambling) becoming more popular about four years ago. I started to see more people speak on betting more openly.
Player 5: People gamble for sure. It’s a locker room full of competitors who love to win. And that doesn’t stop, you know, off the field. Guys got money. You can find a bunch of different games in different locker rooms.
Player 1: Guys were playing dice in the locker room, and things heated up and someone threw a punch. … A player got popped in the jaw! I witnessed it happen, and I was like, “This is why I don’t gamble. This is why I don’t want to deal with any of you guys.”
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sorry, had trouble with the copy/paste.....for some reason it picks up junk and thinks you're exceeding the character limit
ghostguy123
Footballguy
Because when things are public more people will know??
I mean, if it's that important...
More people don't need to know. Nobody but NFL players need to know. The NFLPA negotiated it and should have made sure every player knew the rules. The public's knowledge is irrelevant
rockaction
Footballguy
This is what I think happened and it has been reported on. The sites themselves gave the NFL the data.
Rats.
But to your point about privacy -- it's unsettling to see that.
