NFL Countdown: Former Commissioner Pete Rozelle takes a hard stance on player betting

The NFL has always tried its best to maintain its integrity throughout the years. One of the worst things that can happen to the NFL, or any sporting league for that matter, is to have its integrity questioned.

One of the reasons why this could occur is when players, coaches or officials bet on games. It's a big no-no. The NFL suspended Calvin Ridley, the Atlanta Falcons wide receiver, for an entire year for betting on football games.

The topic got us thinking about other stars that have been caught betting and it brought up some thoughts from an incident back in 1963.

NFL suspends two stars over betting

Back in 1963, the NFL had itself a betting scandal. Detroit Lions star Alex Karras was at the time the best defensive player in the league. Think of Aaron Donald getting suspended in today's game. Also Green Bay Packers halfback Paul Hornung was also suspended by then-league commissioner Pete Rozelle. At the time, it was a hammer-blow of a suspension.

It was a full-year suspension for the league's two stars. Such high-profile players could damage the integrity of the league in such a way.

An investigation was launched and Rozelle said, per si.com, that there was no criminal evidence found, just that players had bet on their own teams.

Rozelle said:

"There is absolutely no evidence of any criminality. No bribes, no game-fixing or point-shaving. The only evidence uncovered in this investigation, which included 52 interviews with players on eight teams, was the bets by the players penalized. All of these bets were on their own teams to win or on other NFL games."

So what or who did the pair bet on?

Hornung said that he wasn't betting any higher than $100 or $200 and that they were with his friends. However, commissioner Rozelle stated that Hornung was betting as much as $500 on games between 1959 and 1961 per espn.com.

For Karrass, he was betting $50 to $100 with Rozelle saying that he bet at least six times.

Both players were in the prime of their careers and both were All-Pro's as well. As one would imagine, both the Packers and Lions felt the absence of their star player.

Hornung was an MVP winner back in 1961, a two-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro, along with being in the Hall of Fame. Karras was also an All-Pro and Pro Bowler as he was one of the best defensive players in the game. After his year-long suspension, he picked up where he left off, getting 13 sacks for the year.

After the pair's year-long suspension, they were both reinstated and would go on to have superb careers. Their betting suspension did not have an impact on their legacies within the game of football, as both were enshrined into the Hall of Fame.