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The Calvin Ridley gambling scandal may be the tip of the iceberg for the NFL, according to one NFL analyst.
Damien Woody says that Calvin Ridley isn't the only NFL player gambling, and he expects more fallout from this.
Woody states:
“Don’t tell me you didn't see this coming. Don’t tell me you didn't see this comment as it relates to Calvin Ridley, or any other player because I can assure you there are probably other players that are doing this as well. And the league has full-throated embraced sports betting. Full-throated embrace sports betting. This will not be the first time nor will it be the last time that we see a player caught up in this in this particular topic right here. I can assure you of that.”
Calvin Ridley placed a few bets last year on the FanDuel website and was turned in by the site to the NFL. Woody is right; Calvin Ridley can't be the only guy in the league gambling; he was just caught.
In Ridley's case, at least, he says he doesn't have a gambling problem, but that hasn't been the case for a few former NFL players who were caught gambling and had a serious issue with it. Ridley might be the most recent case, but he wasn't the first.
Calvin Ridley isn't the first NFL player caught gambling
Paul Hornung played for the Green Bay Packers back in the 1960s. In 1963, Hornung and another fellow NFL player, Alex Karras, were caught gambling on NFL games and associating themselves with undesirable people.
The NFL suspended the two indefinitely before allowing them to return to the league the following year. Years later, in an interview, Hornung said he believed he could return to the NFL because of Packers head coach Vince Lombardi, who lobbied the NFL hard for his reinstatement.
Hornung had to agree, however, to stay away from gambling and out of Las Vegas and not attend the Kentucky Derby, which he attended every year.
Joe Namath quit football for six months back in the 70s for owning a nightclub that had regulars like mobsters and gamblers. Although Namath himself did not gamble on games, his association alone with these characters was enough to make the NFL ask him to sell his interest in the club, which he eventually did.
Ridley's case is probably just the first of many to come, and it wouldn't be a surprise if more big names get suspended for the upcoming season.
