On Friday, April 21, the NFL announced that it had suspended five players, including four Detroit Lions, for violating the league’s gambling policy. Wide receiver Quintez Cephus and safety C.J. Moore of the Lions, along with defensive end Shaka Toney of the Washington Commanders, were banned for at least the 2023 season for betting on NFL games. Additionally, Lions wide receivers Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams will miss six games for lesser gambling violations that involved betting on non-NFL games at a league facility.[1]
The suspensions will officially begin after the final roster cuts are made on August 29. Cephus, Moore, and Toney are fully sidelined for the upcoming season but will be eligible to petition for reinstatement next year. Meanwhile, Berryhill and Williams can participate in all off-season and preseason activities, including games.[2]
Cephus, who caught 37 passes in three seasons, and Moore, who started just one game in four years, were immediately released from the Lions’ roster. Detroit’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, Brad Holmes, declared that the two players “exhibited decision-making that is not consistent with [the team’s] organizational values and violates league rules.” Holmes expressed disappointment “by the decision-making demonstrated by Stanley and Jameson”, but he also committed the organization to work with both players “to ensure they understand the severity of these violations and have clarity on the league rules moving forward.”[3]
Williams’s representative, Alliance Sports, noted that “Jameson’s violation was not for betting on football, but rather due to a technical rule regarding the actual location in which the online bet was placed – and which would otherwise be allowed by the NFL outside of the club’s facility.” His agents asserted that “Jameson would never intentionally jeopardize the integrity of the game he loves so much and looks forward to getting back to his team as soon as possible.”[4]
A statement released by the NFL revealed that this investigation “uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way.” The league’s gambling policy strictly prohibits anyone in the NFL from engaging in any form of wagering in any club or league facility or venue.[5]
NFL teams seem to handle suspended players differently based on several circumstances. Factors in determining whether they will retain suspended athletes on their roster include draft capital investment, contract terms, personal history, positional needs, and production, among many other things. Williams’s suspension is the most significant blow to the Lions. Detroit selected the former Alabama Crimson Tide receiver in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft after trading up to get him despite his ongoing recovery from a torn ACL. The organization made the pick expecting Williams to be fully ready for the 2023 season. To the team’s surprise, Williams was able to appear in six games in the 2022 campaign. He caught one of nine targets, including a 41-yard touchdown, and also had one carry for 40 yards. Now, the Lions’ plans for Williams are on hold once again until his six-game suspension concludes in October.[6]
However, the vast majority of players cannot afford to make mistakes and jeopardize their spot on an active roster. Cephus, a former fifth-round pick out of Wisconsin, played in 22 games with the Lions over three seasons. He participated in only four games in 2022 due to a leg injury and he was expected to compete for a roster spot before his suspension and subsequent release. The Lions had already previously taken a risk on Cephus and provided him with a second chance. In 2019, a jury found the receiver not guilty of two counts of sexual assault that allegedly occurred during his time with the Badgers. Moore, an undrafted free agent in 2019 who spent four seasons with the Lions and appeared in 56 games as a rotational safety, was also released. The veteran defensive back had just signed a contract extension through the 2024 season in March.[7]
Berryhill and Toney remain on their respective rosters for now. Stanley, a 2022 undrafted free agent, played in four games for Detroit last season. The receiver did not record a catch and mostly appeared on special teams. He recently signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 9 of 2023. Toney, a seventh-round pick by the Commanders in 2021, has played in 26 games, earning 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Washington said that they “have been made aware of the suspension” and “support the league’s findings and actions.”[8]
Calvin Ridley was officially reinstated by the NFL in March 2023 – Image from NFL.com
The NFL’s Shifting Stance on Sports Betting
Gambling incidents have historically been relatively rare for the NFL. These suspensions are the first sports-betting-related bans for players since the league expelled wide receiver Calvin Ridley for the entire 2022 season. Ridley was away from the Atlanta Falcons on the non-football injury list when he placed $1,500 worth of wagers on NFL games over five days. Atlanta traded their former first-round selection to the Jacksonville Jaguars in November for draft picks. The deal was partly conditional upon Ridley’s reinstatement and whether he makes the final roster. Last month, the NFL decided to fully reinstate Ridley and grant him eligibility to participate in all team activities.
The penalties handed down to the five players on Friday are some of the strongest the league has ever issued. In the past four years, five players have received at least season-long punishments for gambling on NFL games. The trend we’re witnessing comes after decades without any such discipline. It’s no coincidence that these scandals have arisen since the NFL shifted its hardline stance against sports betting to one that seeks lucrative partnerships with sportsbooks.[9]
In 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the law that former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue had championed, paving the way for states to legalize sports betting. Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association struck down a 1992 federal law that prohibited gambling on sports in most states. Tagliabue testified to Congress in 1991 in support of the now-overturned legislation. He believed that “we should not gamble with our children’s heroes.” The NFL spent the next 25 years guarding against the possibility of legalized sports betting. Commissioner Roger Goodell took up the cause and declared that “the NFL cannot be compensated in damages for the harm that sports gambling poses to the goodwill, character, and integrity of NFL football.”[10]
All that changed in 2018 as the NFL rushed to capitalize on the potential for massive profits and new business. After denouncing sports wagering for decades as bad for the sport, the NFL completely reversed its attitude and now embraces on-site sportsbooks at NFL stadiums, partnerships with casinos and online gambling companies, and betting advertisements during games. Ironically, the Raiders even moved to Las Vegas in 2020. Since then, Sin City has held the Pro Bowl and the NFL Draft, and it will finish the 2023 season by hosting the Super Bowl.[11]
The league has effectively opened itself up to more situations like these in the future. Fans and athletes alike are growing up in an environment where society, gambling companies, and professional sports leagues themselves are pushing the practice of making wagers from your phone or physical kiosk while watching games.
While the NFL says that it educates all personnel annually about its gambling policies and justifies its harsh penalties as being necessary to protect the “integrity of the game,” The New York Times points out that the league did not disclose enough information about the violations for the public to know whether the players bet on their teams’ games, bet in coordination with each other, or how they were caught.[12]
The seriousness of the ruling seems to be a lesson aimed at deterring other players from making the same mistakes. However, The New York Times sounds skeptical of the league’s explanation and cites the NFL’s track record of not being forthcoming about damaging information. They cite the destruction of videotapes and other evidence during the 2007 Spygate investigation and the refusal to compel and release a written report detailing the findings of the inquiry into accusations of workplace abuse and harassment under Daniel Snyder’s leadership of the Washington Commanders.[13]
Commissioner Goodell warned that there would be a cost to legalizing sports betting way back in 2012. That cost has ultimately fallen on a handful of players who have paid a steep price. In 2019, Arizona Cardinals defensive back Josh Shaw was suspended for at least one season for betting on NFL games. Shaw never played again. There’s also been at least one coach who’s faced discipline for violating the NFL’s gambling policy. In 2022, former Cowboys wide receiver and current Jets receivers coach Miles Austin was suspended for one year for wagering from a legal mobile account on table games and non-NFL professional sports.
Historic NFL Gambling Policy Infractions
Frank Filchock and Merle Hapes of the New York Giants were disciplined in the 1940s by Commissioner Bert Bell for not reporting attempted bribes, particularly for the 1946 championship game. Filchock was permitted to play in the game, but Hapes was not allowed to take the field. Filchock played four seasons in Canada and returned to the NFL in 1950. Hapes never played another NFL game.[14]
In 1963, Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended star running back Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers and defensive tackle Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions for one season. Both players went on to become Hall of Famers. Twenty years later, Commissioner Rozelle punished second-year Indianapolis Colts quarterback Art Schlichter. Schlichter was reinstated and played two more seasons before eventually going to prison for a multimillion-dollar ticketing scam.[15]
Earlier this week, the NFL, along with other professional sports leagues, formed the Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising, a group described as a voluntary alliance to control how consumers see advertising and to rein in “excessive” promotions.
[2] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/sports/football/nfl-gambling-betting-suspensions.html
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[15] Id.
Photo Credit:
Jameson Williams — https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/lions-jameson-williams-takes-full-responsibility-nfl-suspension
Calvin Ridley — https://www.nfl.com/news/jaguars-trade-for-suspended-falcons-wr-calvin-ridley
3L JD/MBA at the University at Buffalo School of Law; BSELS Treasurer
Interested in a career at the intersection of law and business, particularly in sports.
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