The Jacksonville Jaguars acquired wide receiver Calvin Ridley from the Atlanta Falcons before this year’s Nov. 1 trade deadline but they will have to wait until 2023 to see a return on their investment, as Ridley is currently serving a suspension for betting on NFL games in 2022.
A first-round pick by the Falcons in 2018, Ridley was becoming one of the league’s up-and-coming stars but he abruptly retired in the middle of the 2021 season to focus on his mental health. During his retirement, Ridley was suspended when the NFL learned that he had placed bets on games and the earliest he can apply for reinstatement is Feb. 15, 2023.
At the time, Ridley posted on social media that he had only wagered $1,500 but sports betting expert Brett Smiley of Sports Handle revealed that the Alabama product had instead placed six different bets for a total of $3,900, significantly more than the amount Ridley had originally stated.
While it’s uncertain whether this played a role in the length of his suspension, Black and Teal had the chance to talk to Smiley, who was kind enough to explain to us why Calvin Ridley’s punishment was appropriate.
B&T: Does Calvin Ridley’s action match the punishment the league imposed on him?
Smiley: People have varying ideas about what would have been an appropriate punishment. Some think it’s hypocritical the NFL suspended him at all because the league has sports gambling partners now. Others think he should be permanently banned from the league. Most people think the appropriate suspension is somewhere in the vast space between.
I think the only calculation that ultimately matters is whether the year-long suspension was levied consistent with the policy as set forth in the most recent BA and that’s a clear yes. The commissioner has wide latitude to suspend a player who bets on NFL games for a certain duration or indefinitely, regardless of whether he bets on his own team. The violation, unlike in some of the cases of conduct that is actually criminal, is pretty black-and-white from his perspective, and unfortunately for Ridley, he was used as an example.
As Smily noted, the league’s gambling policy is pretty straightforward, per NFL Communications:
"All NFL Personnel are prohibited from placing, soliciting, or facilitating any bet, whether directly or through a third party, or any NFL game practice or other event. This includes betting on a game, outcome, statistics, score, performance of any individual participant, or any other kind of ‘proposition bet."
So Black and Teal asked Smiley what steps the NFL is actively taking from discouraging widespread gambling.
Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley knew the policy when he placed the bets
B&T: What steps is the league taking to crack down on gambling?
Smiley: More or less, the same as it’s always done. For athletes and young men, gambling is not new. Probably a majority of them gamble or something. There’s lots of card games when teams travel and players often will head to Las Vegas to unwind during a Bye Week. The only thing that’s changed is the legality of sports wagering, for non-NFL players aged 21 and up, in about 30 stats and growing.
League and team compliance and security people make it very clear to rookies and veterans the day they step into the facility that you cannot bet on NFL games. NBA, Mach Madness games, cricket, World Cup, that’s all good. And many players have legal apps on their phones. There’s only so much you can do before the team/league is entirely violating a player’s privacy.
We’re now nearly five years post-PASPA [Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act], and there’s not a single known/reported incident of an NFL player throwing a game, and isn’t that the chief concern? I think accountability and common sense is working.
Based on the information Smiley shared, Calvin Ridley was fully aware of the gambling policy, so he (nor anyone) shouldn’t have been surprised he was slapped with a suspension, regardless of how much money he bet.
Jaguars WR Calvin RIdley is one of few NFL players suspended for betting
NFL players’ gambling on games isn’t widespread but it’s previously happened. Cornerback Josh Shaw, at the time on the Arizona Cardinals’ Injured Reserve, made a bet in the city of Las Vegas that led to a suspension the following year. Before him, Art Schlichter (1983), Alex Karras (1963), and Paul Hornung (1963) also got suspensions for the same reason.
Shaw never played a down in the NFL following his suspension and that might’ve been because he was a fringe player. Conversely, Hornung and Karras were some of the biggest stars in the league at the time and went on to play several seasons after their respective suspensions were lifted. Schlichter also played two years in the NFL after his suspension and later join the Arena Football League.
One of the reasons players gambling isn’t common in the NFL is that the league that it very seriously.
B&T: Do players gambling on games really affect the integrity of the game?
Smiley: I think that NFL players gambling on NFL games at least has the potential of raising doubt or suspicion about the games, at least for enough NFL viewers, that at the very least it would affect perfection, and perception is everything. If nothing else, the NFL is damn good at driving ratings and perpetually growing the value of its TV contracts and team valuations.
Part of that means making sure the public has faith its contests are fair and legitimate, which means competent officiating, and also barring players from gambling on NFL games. At least that’s the calculus and it’s hard to argue it has not been effective.
So what’s next for WR Calvin Ridley and the Jaguars?
One of the most popular talking points when discussing the length of Ridley’s suspension was that it seemed excessive while Deshaun Watson, who was accused of sexual misconduct, only got 11 games and a $5 million fine. But here’s the deal, these situations aren’t comparable.
The evidence against Watson was simply too much to ignore and he should’ve gotten a harsher punishment. Moreover, this isn’t the first time the NFL has mishandled allegations of domestic and/or sexual abuse and they have significant work to do in that regard. Having said that, the betting policy was clear-cut and Calvin Ridley broke it, so the case could be made that the league has made mistakes when it comes to personal conduct policy but has done a good job on the betting side of things.
Given his comments and actions, it looks like it was an honest mistake by Ridley and there doesn’t seem evidence he’s got a gambling problem. The fact that this is the first time he’s suspended for that and other reasons should help him get reinstated without much trouble.
Not long after being traded to Jacksonville, he posted a message on social media sharing his excitement about the news. In the same manner, Jaguars players are thrilled Ridley will be joining them soon.
#DUUUVAL 😤😤
— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) November 1, 2022
The Jaguars and Ridley can’t have contact while his suspension runs but Trevor Lawrence must be licking his chops about the potential arrival of the former Falcon. Jacksonville already has a couple of playmakers in Christian Kirk and Zay Jones but Ridley could potentially turn the group from good to great and if that ends up being the case, his suspension might end up being just a footnote in his NFL career.