8:52pm: Rodgers has admitted wrongdoing, though he did not specify if the recent accusations are entirely accurate. The 25-year-old defender said he has “made mistakes” and wants to rectify them. An NFL ruling may be coming soon.
“Addressing the current reports, I want to take full responsibility for my actions,” Rodgers said (via Twitter). “I know I have made mistakes and I am willing to do whatever it takes repair the situation. I’ve let people down that I care about. I made an error in judgment and I am going to work hard to make sure that those mistakes are rectified through this process.”
Depending on the NFL’s findings, Rodgers will almost certainly face a lengthy suspension. Betting on NFL games led to Cephus, Moore and Toney being banned for at least one full season. Given the scope of Rodgers’ reported violations, he should not be expected to play in 2023. An indefinite suspension would require reinstatement. Should Rodgers receive a full-season ban, the last year of his rookie contract would toll. This is assuming the Colts not cut ties with the 5-foot-10 defender.
6:20pm: Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers is believed to the player under investigation, Holder and ESPN’s David Perdum report. A former sixth-round pick, Rodgers started nine games last season and worked as Indianapolis’ primary kick returner. The Colts cleared a bit of a path for Rodgers this offseason, trading Stephon Gilmore and letting Brandon Facyson return to the Raiders in free agency. While the team drafted Julius Brents in the second round, a Rodgers suspension would certainly affect Gus Bradley‘s plans at corner.
A sportsbook account was created under the name of one of Rodgers’ associates, per ESPN, with approximately 100 bets being placed on the account over an undisclosed time span. Most of the bets were worth between $25-$50, though Holder and Perdum note at least one was in the four-digit range.
5:38pm: The NFL’s issues with player betting are spreading beyond Detroit and Washington this offseason. The league is investigating a Colts player for violating the gambling policy, according to Sportshandle.com’s Matt Rybaltowski.
The Colts released a statement indicating awareness of the gambling investigation into this unnamed player, and ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder adds the Indiana Gaming Commission has received “information pertaining to this matter.” No suspension has been handed down, but the Lions precedent set some parameters in the event of violating findings.
While the April development led to two Lions (Jameson Williams and since-cut receiver Stanley Berryhill) being suspended six games for making non-NFL bets on team grounds and two other Lions (since-released special-teamer C.J. Moore and since-waived wideout Quintez Cephus) and Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney banned at least a full season for betting on the NFL, punishment in this Colts matter may be more extreme. The unnamed Colt is alleged to have placed “hundreds” of wagers, with Rybaltowski adding some of those are believed to have been bets on the Colts.
Obviously prohibited from betting on NFL games, players — as the Williams ban reminded — are also barred from making sports wagers at team facilities. The extent of which Cephus, Moore and Toney bet on the NFL is not known, but a report indicating this many possible violations could certainly result in a stiffer suspension for the latest player in the gambling policy crosshairs. The NFL’s investigation into the Lions has expanded to a fifth player as well, though it is unknown if that player is under the microscope for betting on the NFL or on other sports. After seeing players and unnamed staffers commit violations, the Lions have provided further instruction to their players on the policy.
The report of a fifth Lion to be investigated for a potential violation also indicated players on other teams had potentially violated the policy. The league went years without a gambling policy violator, but a 2018 Supreme Court decision that expanded betting to numerous states beyond Nevada and New Jersey has both affected the NFL through partnerships and with players running afoul of the betting policy. Although Ridley and former defensive back Josh Shaw incurred indefinite suspensions prior to this offseason, 2023 has been the league’s most turbulent year on the gambling front in decades.
We probably shouldn’t be surprised that Goodell considers himself a greater authority than the Supreme Court.
Really, Edlemon: regardless of your views or the use of gambling for profit, so to speak, by the NFL; players have specific rules that they know clearly, as well as the consequences. So there is no excuse, & should be no appeals. This is probably easier to police than PED’s.
The only thing some rules protect is the NFLs hypocrisy. As you’ve pointed out, the NFL is happy to profit from gambling but forbid anyone else from doing so.
Are you mad that Budweiser employees can’t drink on the job?
Bud employees can drink when not at work right? Have NFL players been betting while playing on the field?
They sure have, that’s the issue.
You show up to work drunk you get fired.
You show up to work after betting on the game you get fired.
Pick a different strawman or at least one that works.
Clearly, you’re drinking Goodell’s kool-aid and swallowing the nonsense that players betting endangers the “integrity of the game”. Let’s examine that hypothesis a bit closer.
Without bribing game officials, there is virtually no way a non participant can influence the outcome of a sporting event. If officials could be corrupted in this fashion it would certainly be a greater embarrassment to the league than the actual betting. What about players betting on their own team? Well, a player has no control over anyone’s game performance but his own and there are numerous examples of individuals having great game efforts yet still ending up on the losing side. The third option is to bet AGAINST your own team. For this strategy to succeed a player has to convince all his teammates to play poorly. What teammates are going to go along with this hair brained scheme when it could result in them being demoted on the depth chart and probably damage their market value?
No, the real threat to the “integrity of the game” is not players betting but the hypocrisy of the NFL which seems to be more rampant with each passing year.
Got it so you are just delusional.
One dropped pass, one play given up on in coverage is a whole game.
Might want to get those crossed eyes checked out, might help with the nonsense.
@Kirsten. Who’s delusional? Players miss blocks and tackles all the time. Drop passes, take bad penalties and make enough other mistakes that Ed Sabol was able to create a Football Follies film that became the NFLs most popular.
You mean the film that is largely attributed as results of people betting on their own games.
So a corner couldn’t trip in man coverage and allow a TD?
Goal post moving.
Your complaint was that the NFL is hypocritical in promoting gambling but not allowing it’s player to partake.
And most people understand that the idea that the games are fixed are the single quickest way to destroy a sport’s league and why every league forbids it’s players from gambling.
Dude is gonna get kicked out of the league if he was betting on his own team.
Depends. If Rodgers was only betting on the Colts to win, the sin is not great. If Rodgers was sometimes betting on the Colts to lose, it’s Pete Rose time.
Let me explain – Rodgers, as a player, is supposed to be doing everything he can to help the Colts win. On the other hand, betting on a loss, means that Rodgers could affect the game in a negative way, dropping an interception, failing on a tackle, allowing a touchdown reception.
You didn’t need to explain
Who cares
The guy was willing to put his career in jeopardy for $50 bets?? If I read the article correctly, he essentially had a burner account, so he knew he was breaking the rules…
One of about 40,000 NFL employees who eager on the NFL either directly or indirectly….
They put sports books in every stadium, a betting app on every phone, take competitive low income kids that can hardly read, prop them up as protected and invincible, give them hundreds of thousands of dollars, and pretend they’re shocked when a few use some to gamble.
I don’t really understand this. Why are guys betting ? Especially $25-$50 go play daily fantasy sports which isn’t considered gambling by law much higher chance for pay day for $25 unless nfl changed rules on that
Oh, “Gambling by Law”, have you checked that against an NFL policy? Fantasy sports could be worse.
Just a quick Google this is what I got The NFL does not outright ban participation in paid or daily fantasy sports games by its players and staff
If anyone thinks that illegal gambling by any player or organization is just starting, they are wrong. It’s just the tip of the iceberg that someday it will become a disaster for the leagues because they are part owners of the gambling sites. There already have been dozens of athletes, team employees and referees that have been caught!
Problem now is it’s at our finger tips. Was never so easily accessed before until recent years
The NFL is hoping to find some player betting during the national anthem, while taking a knee…then they can blame the problem on Kaepernick.
I don’t get the rule on gambling in team facilities. If the NFL is going to take money from various gambling related entities, a player should be able to place bets on their phone from a facility (as long as it is not a bet on football). Like if an NFL player decides to put $25 down on the outcome of the World Series, who cares? It has 0 impact on the player, team, or league. I understand the rules for not betting on NFL games. However, I would also think an exception could be made once the post-season hits. If a player is a FA or on a team not in the playoffs, why couldn’t they bet on the playoffs?
What if the league has Fan Duel as a sponsor, but the player is using Draft Kings?
That professional sports have cozied up to sports books and betting represents the darkest days for fans. This is all just the tip of the iceberg. Anyone who still believes in the sanctity of professional sports and the integrity of games, athletes and officials is a fool
Rules are rules. He signed the contract. Same as Watson and Elliott, 2 guys that received suspensions even though neither were arrested or charged with a crime. You don’t want players that can control the outcome of a game having a gambling addiction. Too many things can go sideways really quickly
Oh, the cluelessness and the naivety being spewed by Dumb Sports Fans from Murica!
Do a web search for Ivan Toney — he’s serving an 8-month worldwide ban from soccer for betting on his own club’s matches. He was going to get a longer ban before admitting he was a compulsive gambler.
I find it really interesting dfs is available to these players. They can bet on other sports away from team facility. Why are you connecting to wifi???? Use your own internet no one would know