Four NFL players draw suspensions for gambling violations
Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and linebacker Rashod Berry drew season-long suspensions, as did free-agent defensive end Demetrius Taylor.
After five players, including Philadelphia native Shaka Toney, were suspended for gambling violations in April, the NFL announced Thursday that four more players will be serving suspensions this season.
Among those players are Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who was being investigated earlier this month for a possible infraction, along with teammate and outside linebacker Rashod Berry and free-agent defensive end Demetrius Taylor. All three are suspended for the entire season for betting on NFL games last year. The league said in a statement that the three players can file for reinstatement once the 2023 season is over. The Colts announced that Rodgers and Berry have been waived.
» READ MORE: With more suspensions on horizon, what is the NFL’s policy on gambling?
A fourth player, Titans offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, will serve a six-game suspension for betting on non-NFL games at the team’s facility. The league said Petit-Frere would be eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason activities, including preseason games.
In a statement to ESPN, Petit-Frere accepted responsibility for his actions and vowed to be ready for action after his suspension.
“I want to apologize to my family, coaches teammates and Titans fans. I have always strived in every stage of my life to follow the rules,” Petit-Frere said in the statement. “I did not knowingly break the rules. Even after attending a league presentation, I was unaware about the specifics around placing bets from a team facility.”
In recent weeks, the NFL has sent memos to all 32 teams doubling down on the league’s policies against gambling, which prohibit players, coaches, and personnel from betting on NFL games. While players are allowed to bet on non-NFL games, wagering in team facilities, on team buses, trains, flights, or hotels, or while traveling on club or league business is prohibited.
In addition, players and personnel are not allowed to set foot in sportsbooks during the NFL season, but the policy does not mention anything about gambling at a sportsbook during the offseason. (Players and personnel are allowed to simply pass through a sportsbook if it is necessary at their hotel.)
This announcement brings the total to nine players who will serve suspensions during this NFL season. In addition to Rodgers, Berry, and Taylor, former Lions players Quintez Cephus and C.J. Moore are suspended for the entire campaign.
Toney, a former Penn State defensive end who plays for the Washington Commanders, has been suspended indefinitely for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.
Since sports betting became legalized in the United States in 2018, 11 NFL players have faced gambling-related suspensions, 10 in the last two years.