NFL: Calvin Ridley suspended indefinitely, at least for the 2022 season for gambling on NFL games

[DougieSmash]

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

Both things can be true:

Ridley is an idiot who deserves punishment.

There is severe inequity in punishments when throwing down a little parlay while you are not even participating with the team results in much harsher punishment than beating your wife/child.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

It will take some serious patience to mentally work through the gray area here, and that's not a strong point for folks on the internet, but I'm gonna go there anyway, admittedly with a bit of a wince.

Obviously, abuse of any kind is worse than the kind of gambling we're talking about here - and smoking weed, for that matter. The punishment in society should be far greater for those more heinous behaviors.

But the gambling and the drugs (can) have direct impact on the league, its teams, the games and the results. That's why there's such a clear picture of what can/will happen to players who engage in those behaviors.

If you want to suggest that stronger penalties should exist for players like Ray Rice, Kareem Hunt, Adrian Peterson and the like, I'm actually all in favor of that. But it's explainable and understandable that the league has harsh penalties for gambling and drugs.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

gambling on the game is the highest crime in any sport for an active player, it automatically calls the integrity of the game into question (think Tim Donaghy). That is why it has a punishment that is far harsher than the crime, to be a deterrent.

It's also no secret to any player that betting on football is not allowed. He's a moron, plain and simple.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

I keep seeing this go around and I'm not defending the NFL here but across all sports, whether Ridley was playing/around the team or not, betting on that sport is an absolute no, no. Doesn't matter who he bet on, next thing you know you could be in debt and compromised and start shaving points to win it back. (also Peterson wound up missing 15 games all told. Spent 9 on the exempt list and it counted as time served.)

Violence, while much much worse, has zero to do with the on field play and product. Gambling could.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

gambling on the game is the highest crime in any sport for an active player, it automatically calls the integrity of the game into question (think Tim Donaghy). That is why it has a punishment that is far harsher than the crime, to be a deterrent.

It's also no secret to any player that betting on football is not allowed. He's a moron, plain and simple.

He had been off the team for over a month, no?