The NFL is all about its business and maintaining the league’s image is a big part of that process. One of the major ways they do that is by suspending players for behavior that they deem detrimental to the best interest of the league.
For the longest time, this meant that the NFL was keeping a watchful eye on any number of things that could tie back to on-the-field issues… off the field issues… things like arrests and substance abuse issues…
But now—gambling-related transgressions—have become the most pressing issue to the league.
And as of late, the NFL has been biting back hard against its players that it believes are compromising the league’s values—or, more so, its value.
There have already been seven NFL players this offseason, who apparently had to learn their lessons the hard way… and are now going to be suspended for the entire 2023 season.
What make’s this all the more frustrating, even from afar, is that they chose this route rather than just observing what happened to guys before them.
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Players like Calvin Ridley, a 2018 first-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons who after recording 90 catches and 1,374 receiving yards in 2020, took a mental health break from the NFL—before getting suspended for all of the 2022 season after he was caught gambling on NFL games.… Or Josh Gordon, another star wide receiver, who essentially wrecked his entire career because he couldn’t comply with the league’s substance abuse policies!
Without further ado, let’s check out the seven players that are going to have to miss at least the entirety of the 2023 season!
Isaiah Rodgers & Rashod Berry, Indianapolis Colts
Starting off with the latest announcement that the NFL squeezed in before the holiday weekend—the league is suspending three more players for at least a full season due to violations of the league’s gambling policy.
The announcement will have the largest effect on the AFC South—as two of the guys named in the release were members of the Indianapolis Colts’ defense: cornerback, Isaiah Rodgers and defensive end Rashod Berry.
Hopefully, this can be a learning experience for two young players, who were members of the 2020 NFL Draft. Indy took Rodgers in the sixth round out of UMass and picked up Berry, who went undrafted out of Ohio State, off the Jaguars practice squad last year.
At least Berry was just a practice squad player last year when the transgressions took place… While he should’ve still known better, I can kind of see how you can find your way into trouble when you are sort of detached from the rest of the team and the structure of being a traveling NFL player.
Rodgers, on the other hand, well he really screwed the pooch.
Rodgers & Berry Continued…
He was active on the Colts roster, playing in games—and according to ESPN’s Daavid Purdum’s sources, placed somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 bets, including at least one wager on a game that involved his team.
That is the cardinal sin of cardinal sins! There is no better way to call the league’s integrity into question—and dare them to come down with all the wrath and fury of a billion dollar enterprise—than to bet on games you are playing in!
What makes the whole thing even more bizarre is that most of the bets were in the range of $25 to 50 dollars… So it wasn’t even like this was some get rich quick scheme—just dumb decision making.
Rodgers was quick to take accountability for the transgression once the news went public, releasing a notes app mea culpa on Twitter:
“I know I have made mistakes and I am willing to do whatever it takes to repair the situation,” Rodgers wrote. “The last thing I ever wanted to do was to be a distraction to the Colts organization, my coaches, and my teammates. I’ve let people down that I care about. I made an error in judgment and I am going to work hard to make sure that those mistakes are rectified through this process. It’s an honor to play in the NFL and I have never taken that lightly. I am very sorry for all of this. “
Rodgers & Berry Continued…
Unfortunately, whatever “learning” he and Berry will ultimately do—will not be as members of the Indianapolis Colts organization—because shortly after the league came down with its ruling, the team’s general manager, Chris Ballard released a pretty blunt statement:
“We have made the following roster moves as a consequence of the determination that these players violated the league’s gambling policy,” said Ballard in a statement released on the Colts team website. “The integrity of the game is of the utmost importance. As an organization, we will continue to educate our players, coaches, and staff on the policies in place and the significant consequences that may occur with violations.”
As you might’ve guessed, the Colts cut ties with both players, waiving them, which has to be particularly painful for both Rodgers and Berry, two guys who fought long and hard to make it in the NFL, only to have it all fall apart because they couldn’t comply with the league’s gambling policy—and the Colts didn’t think they were worth holding on to through the suspension.
Demetrius Taylor, Detroit Lions
The former Appalachian State defensive tackle earned a spot on the Detroit Lions during last year’s training camp—and though he was toggled back and forth from the active roster throughout the year, he no doubt was heading into 2023 with larger ambitions than spending the entire year on the couch.
I feel bad for Taylor, who had already been cut in May when the Lions opted to sign an eight-year veteran, Christian Covington, to their d-line in his stead.
As if getting cut wasn’t bad enough… Now Taylor is suspended indefinitely and like Rodgers and Berry will need to petition for reinstatement at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
And even if Taylor can keep his nose clean this offseason and get reinstated, there is no guarantee that he will ever find his way back on to an NFL roster.
It is hard enough to have staying power in the NFL… An undrafted guy like Taylor really only needs one strike against him for a team to say it isn’t even worth giving him a shot—and this is a pretty serious strike to have gotten!
Quintez Cephus & CJ Moore, Detroit Lions
Taylor wasn’t the only player on the Lions in 2022 to get in trouble for gambling… It seems that the nasty habit was endemic in the Detroit locker room last year.
Jameson Williams, the team’s 2022 first-round draft choice, and another Lions receiver, Stanley Berryhill, were given six-game suspensions for betting from an NFL facility on non-NFL sporting events… and more egregiously, at least in the NFL’s eyes, Quintez Cephus and CJ Moore also got pegged with suspensions, in their case, indefinite ones.
The distinction was that, unlike Williams and Berryhill, Cephus and Moore made the horrendous decision to bet not just from an NFL facility… but also on NFL games…
Lions general manager, Brad Holmes, released a statement eerily similar to Ballard’s before releasing both Cephus and Moore, who will now need to find a new team in addition to applying for reinstatement at the end of the year.
Cephus & Moore Continued…
“As a result of an NFL investigation, it came to our attention that a few of our players had violated the league’s gambling policy,” Holmes said. “These players exhibited decision-making that is not consistent with our organizational values and violates league rules. We have made the decision to part ways with Quintez and C.J. immediately. We are disappointed by the decision-making demonstrated by Stanley and Jameson and will work with both players to ensure they understand the severity of these violations and have clarity on the league rules moving forward.””
Slightly more spicy than Ballard’s more corporate response… especially since they decided to retain two of the players that broke the rules in admittedly less severe fashions, but the ethos remained the same: gamble on the NFL and you are going to get suspended—and probably released.
Unless of course, you are valuable enough on the field to the organization that they’ll let you stick around!
Amani Bledsoe, Atlanta Falcons
This suspension could sadly be straw that broke the camel’s back for Beldsoe’s career. The former Oklahoma Sooner was undrafted in 2019 and after working his way up the Titans
practice squad for two years finally made an NFL roster with the Bengals in 2020, before going back to Tennessee the following year.
He wasn’t any kind of game-breaker, but he did manage to play in 19 games during that time and totaled 18 tackles. That clearly wasn’t enough to keep him in the rotation in Tennessee, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that Bledsoe could’ve held on as a practice squad guy for years to come—if not earn another shot at contributing on an active roster.
Now, he is but another name on the list of suspension-related career casualties, because it is extremely unlikely that a team will want to even bother with the headache of signing a player, who has this kind of black mark on his resume.
At least in Bledsoe’s case, his suspension came as a result of his second violation of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, rather than another bonehead deciding to gamble.
The defensive end was clearly just trying to hold on to whatever was left of his career and his NFL hopes, so I can at least understand the rational for trying to push the limits of his God-given abilities and take performance enhancers…
Shaka Toney, Washington Commanders
Toney, on the other hand, well, he like the rest of the guys on this list just couldn’t get the flashing lights of the casino out of his head and got caught violating the league’s gambling policy.
Luckily for Toney, who was a seventh-round pick himself and not a bonafide star in the league by any means, he seems to have established himself with the Commanders enough for the team to not immediately release him after the league announced his suspension.
Check out what Washington’s coach, Ron Rivera had to say:
“It’s unfortunate and a little disappointed for the young man,” Rivera said. “I mean, he’s a guy that really came on for us last year at the end of the season and with what’s going on, obviously it’s something that he’s dealing with on his own with his agent and the league. So for us, we’ve just gotta be able to move forward and hopefully in a year’s time, we’ll see what happens.”
Shaka Toney Continued…
Obviously, that is not a ringing endorsement that Toney will be back, but it was a far more comforting statement than any of the other ones we’ve seen after gambling suspensions.
Which, given the seriousness with which teams are viewing these transgressions is a little surprising. Especially when you consider the fact that he totaled just 16 tackles over the last two years… But hey maybe he’s shown enough to the organization character-wise or in practice, that they decided they’ll at least wait and see if he’s worth keeping around long-term through his potential reinstatement.
Good for Toney—hopefully he can find his way back and one day fight for some playing time again on what will likely still be a very competitive depth chart on the Commanders D-line, with guys like Montez Sweat and Chase Young leading the pack!
