Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry of the Indianapolis Colts along with free agent Demetrius Taylor received indefinite suspensions through at least this season for betting on NFL games in 2022. They won't be able to seek reinstatement until the 2023 season ends.
Tennessee Titans right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere was suspended for the first six games of the 2023 season for betting on non-NFL sports at the team's facility. He is eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason activities, including preseason games.
“We believe in Nick and know that he has deep respect for the integrity of the game and our organization,” the Titans said in a statement. "We will continue to emphasize to our players the importance of understanding and adhering to league rules and policies.”
The NFL’s gambling policy bars players, coaches and league and team officials from betting on NFL games, placing bets at team facilities or team hotels or having someone else place a bet for them, among other restrictions.
With many states legalizing sports books specifically and gambling in general, leagues such as the NFL must increasingly contend with gambling infractions.
The Lions released three players — receivers Quintez Cephus and Stanley Berryhill and safety C.J. Moore. Cephus and Moore were suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games while Berryhill and receiver Jameson Williams each drew six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL games.
Williams, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 draft, remains on Detroit’s roster.
Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney also received an indefinite suspension in April for betting on NFL games, and in 2022 the NFL gave then-Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley a season-long suspension for betting. He was reinstated in March and now plays for Jacksonville.
Losing Rodgers is a big blow to a Colts secondary already under reconstruction. He was projected to be a starter this season, his fourth in the NFL, and the former UMass star was expected to add a veteran voice in a young position room.
The loss of Petit-Frere even for six games hurts the Titans. He was the only starter returning from last year’s starting offensive line at the same position.
Petit-Frere released a statement to ESPN that he shared on social media and apologized to the Titans and his family. He also made clear his betting did not involve the NFL and was legal under Tennessee law.
“It is only being sanctioned because it occurred at the Titans facility ...," Petit-Frere said in his statement. "I have always strived in every stage of my life to follow the rules. Even after attending a league presentation, I was unaware about the specifics around placing bets from a team facility.”
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Petit-Frere was Tennessee’s third-round pick last year out of Ohio State, and he beat out Dillon Radunz for the starting job at right tackle. Petit-Frere started all 16 games as a rookie, helping block for the NFL’s second-leading rusher in Derrick Henry.
New general manager Ran Carthon rebuilt the offensive line this offseason, signing Andre Dillard from Philadelphia as hopefully the Titans’ new left tackle and Daniel Brunskill from the 49ers to be the right guard. He drafted Peter Skoronski with their first-round pick, and he’s likely starting at left guard.
Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Beyond the Spotlight,' a biography series about the intriguing people who capture our attention, fill our social feeds, and shape pop culture.
"Anything Is Possible," a documentary about NBA superstar Kevin Garnett recounting his career from being drafted out of high school to a championship with the Boston Celtics, is set to premiere on Showtime. Executive producer Marc Levin and co-directors Daniel Levin and Eric Newman joined Cheddar to provide some background on the project and discuss Garnett's legacy. With KG considered a pioneer for modern NBA draftees straight out of high school (the fifth pick in 1995), the filmmakers also discussed the possibility of the league reversing course on its current rule that requires a player to be at least 19-years-old and a year removed from high school to play.
Professional sports is facing a reckoning right now over several stories painting an ugly picture of a toxic work environment, encompassing multiple teams in multiple leagues and dealing with different issues.
This week, the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks ousted their general manager and senior director of hockey operations after an investigation confirmed former player Kyle Beach's claims that the team's former video coach Brad Aldrich sexual assaulted him back in 2010, with upper management ignoring his claims until after the team won the Stanley Cup that season. Last night, Joel Quenneville, now the coach of the Florida Panthers but Chicago's coach that season, stepped down from his post.
This comes just a few weeks after the NFL was rocked by leaked emails showing now-former Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden using racist, sexist and homophobic language. He resigned soon after the emails came to light. We can't forget, though, that those emails come from a much broader investigation of the toxic work environment in the offices of the Washington Football Team. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week the league wouldn't publicly release anything from its investigation of the team, but lawyers for many of the women interviewed in the case say they want a public report.
And last January, just one month after hiring him, the New York Mets had to fire then-General manager Jared Porter, who admitted to sending explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he worked for the Chicago Cubs. ESPN had been in possession of the texts since 2017, but the woman in question asked the network not to run the story out of fear her career would be harmed. She only reached back out to ESPN after she left the field of journalism altogether. Porter has been banned from the sport through next season.
If you believe in the phrase "where there's smoke, there's fire," professional sports is a five-alarm blaze.
Julie DiCaro, senior writer and editor at Deadspin, joins None of the Above to discuss.
Jill and Carlo discuss the scenes of joy at American airports as borders reopen, another tool in the Covid toolbox, the latest in the Astroworld crowd crush tragedy and more.
Gaming technology studio Mythical Games recently raised $150 million in a round led by Andreesen Horowitz, bringing Mythical's valuation to above unicorn status at $1.2 billion. Mythical Games' mission is to create a new generation of gaming with play-to-earn games that allow players to play to win actual cryptocurrency. Now the company is taking it to another level with NFT technology, allowing players to play with characters they can truly own. Mythical Games CEO John Linden joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Evan Vandenberg, the founder and CEO of Dibbs, a sports card trading platform, joined Cheddar to break down how his company allows sports fans to buy and sell fractions of sports cards. The physical trading cards are typically held in a vault while fans are provided with a digital representation of that card that they can go on to sell or even buy more fractions of the item. Vanderberg also talked about the company's $13 million Series A funding round and investments from major sports figures like the NBA's Chris Paul and NFL's DeAndre Hopkins.
A Freitag pod with Carlo and Baker, talking about the upcoming federal vax-or-test deadline, the most shocking upset of this week's elections, an incredible story of selflessness and Love, Hate, Ate.
