Calvin Ridley NFL Scandal: Banned For The 2022 Season

The internet has blown up due to the Calvin Ridley NFL scandal. Because the former Atlanta Falcons player has been suspended by the NFL for making sports betting. He was betting on the victory of the Atlanta Falcons. Therefore, he had to face harsh consequences and penalties. Many people think that the punishments were unjust. To understand the Calvin Ridley NFL scandal, first, you have to understand Calvin Ridley’s character, according to his tweets. What he did was wrong, however, the penalty might have been unjust. Because the case can not be truly investigated. Therefore, he had to face the consequences of his actions according to the general NFL standards and rule book. Online sportsbook sites in the US are all following NFL’s most important betting lines.

Calvin Ridley NFL Scandal

According to The Guardian, Calvin Ridley, the receiver of the Atlanta Falcons, has been removed from the NFL for the entire 2022 season. Because he was placing bets on the victory of his team. While the NFL legalized sports betting in 2021, it doesn’t mean that registered players could make sports bettings. Especially not on the teams they are playing in. Because they can exploit the fairness of the betting by receiving insider information from either of the teams. Therefore, the Calvin Ridley NFL scandal is legitimate. According to him, no one benefited from his bets in his team, but no one can truly prove whether this claim is right or wrong. 

NFL Commissioner About the Calvin Ridley NFL Scandal

According to the Sportsnaut, the following announcements have been made about the Calvin Ridley NFL Scandal. These announcements are public.

One is a public announcement from the NFL, the other is the statement of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell who suspended Calvin. The announcements are the following:

• “NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell today suspended Calvin Ridley of the Atlanta Falcons indefinitely through at least the conclusion of the 2022 season for betting on NFL games in the 2021 season. The activity took place for five days in late November 2021 while Ridley was not with the team and was away from the club’s facility on the non-football illness list. A league investigation uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way. Nor was there evidence suggesting any awareness by coaches, staff, teammates, or other players of his betting activity.” – NFL statement obtained by Sportsnaut.
• “There is nothing more fundamental to the NFL’s success – and to the reputation of everyone associated with our league – than upholding the integrity of the game. This is the responsibility of every player, coach, owner, game official, and anyone else employed in the league. Your actions put the integrity of the game at risk, threatened to damage public confidence in professional football, and potentially undermined the reputations of your fellow players throughout the NFL.” – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement

His Tweets About the Calvin Ridley NFL Scandal

There are more than two statements made about the Calvin Ridley NFL Scandal. According to USA Today, Calvin Ridley has been tweeting about the incident.

There are recent updates on his Twitter. Instead of one long explanation, he kept adding more and more short tweets about his opinion, likely reacting to the comments he received. His tweets are the following:

1. He starts with: “Football is life”
2. -Laughing Emoji-
3. “I learn from my L’s”
4. “I bet 1500 I don’t have a gambling problem”
5. Then goes on with: “I couldn’t even watch Football at that point”
6. “Just gone be more healthy when I come back”
7. “I know I was wrong but I am getting 1 year lol”
8. “If you know me, you know my character.”

To summarize his tweets, and to create a conclusion about his opinion. It seems that he acknowledges the fact that he was doing something wrong, but he also stands by his statement that he wasn’t doing it with ill intention. He isn’t going to repeat this mistake, and he plans to return to the NFL next year.

On Calvin Ridley’s Defense

Calvin Ridley announced that he is retiring from Atlanta Falcons for the 2021 season because he needs time to recover his mental health. He wasn’t watching football at that time. Therefore, he was probably doing these bets to show some sort of support or loyalty to his former teammates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEA87aZhz-8

However, this isn’t just for breaking the general rules of the NFL. He deserved the punishment. But we can not call it a true Calvin Ridley NFL scandal, because it wasn’t his entire team planning on modifying the game or providing inside information. Neither did they share the money. Therefore, it was just an unfortunate situation. Betting market records in New York were reaching a high at that point, and we can not blame Calvin Ridley for wanting to try out sportsbook betting in his temporary retirement.

The Consequences

The Calvin Ridley NFL scandal concluded with Roger Goodell suspending Calvin Ridley for the entire 2022 NFL season. He also had to forfeit his $11.1 million salaries. Therefore, whether he won the bet or not, it was not worth it for him. It was more so that he thought that if he is retiring for a quarter, he can do sports betting in his temporary retirement. He was unfamiliar with the rules. We can expect Ridley’s return in the 2023 season with a renewed energy, and the recovered mental health he wanted previously. However, he might return to a new team, and not to the Atlanta Falcons.

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Where to Bet on the Atlanta Falcons

If you are interested in NFL betting, then you should check out Bovada Sportsbook. They are betting lines for every single NFL game. And it would not be surprising to see alternative betting about Calvin Ridley’s return. If you are on the lookout, you will see people betting on which team he will return to, and things like that. If you are interested in the NFL or the Super Bowl, then check out our article about how to bet on Super Bowl. What do you think? Did Calvin Ridley deserve the ban? Will he return better than ever? Follow our online sportsbook news to be up to date with the Calvin Ridley NFL scandal.