Colts confirm NFL investigating player for possible gambling
The player under investigation has not been publicly disclosed.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts said Monday they are aware the NFL has opened a gambling investigation into one of the team’s players but would not discuss any additional details.
The confirmation came shortly after reports of a possible infraction of the league’s gambling policies first surfaced. The player under investigation has not been publicly disclosed.
Indy is conducting workouts this week at the team facility, but nobody is scheduled to speak until Wednesday.
The NFL suspended five players in April, four from the Detroit Lions, for gambling infractions. The Lions released three of those 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 gambling on non-NFL games. Williams, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 draft, remains on Detroit’s roster.
Washington Commanders defensive end and Philadelphia native Shaka Toney also was given an indefinite suspension in April for betting on NFL games and in 2022, the NFL suspended Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley for the entire season for the same infraction. Ridley was reinstated in March and is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It’s not the first time the Colts have been involved in a gambling allegation.
In 1983, former quarterback Art Schlichter, the No. 4 selection in the 1982 NFL draft, was suspended indefinitely after he agreed to testify against bookies he owed money to. Then-commissioner Pete Rozelle reduced the punishment to 13 months and he was reinstated for the 1984 season.
But the Colts released Schlichter early in 1985 after rumors surfaced that he had continued gambling. Schlichter was the first NFL player to be suspended for gambling since Alex Karras and Paul Hornung in 1963.