Tim Benz: Let’s stop the blame-shifting when it comes to Calvin Ridley’s gambling suspension

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Long ago, the National Football League surpassed Major League Baseball as America’s favorite pastime. This is partly true because another favorite American pastime is gambling in America’s favorite pastime.

Unfortunately, if you play in the NFL, you are not allowed to play in the NFL. That’s what Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley did. And he got caught. Now he’s suspended for a whole year because of what he did.

On Monday, the NFL made the announcement that sparked a revolution in another favorite American pastime.

Blame shifting.

Even though NFL rules strictly forbid any player from betting in NFL games, Ridley did it anyway.

But as the NFL finally broke down the very thin wall between avoiding gambling and going all out in recent years, much of America has decided that the NFL is to blame for following its rules, not Ridley for breaking them.

Because this is the state of America in 2022. Nobody is personally responsible for anything. No one is ever to blame for anything. It’s always someone else. “System.” “Design”. “Society as a whole”.

Can’t anyone be guilty of doing something stupid on their own without finding someone even stupider to take the hit?

There’s always a saying in sports, “It’s the league’s fault. Blame the commissioner. Blame the team. Blame the owner. Blame the CEO. Blame the coach.”

Not this time. It’s on the player. The player screwed up. Calvin Ridley screwed up. Stop trying to find another scapegoat.

Seems like a pretty simple concept to me. But that doesn’t stop Twitter from taking the blame and going into overdrive.

Apparently, Ridley’s bet on football is the league’s fault because she should have known better before partnering with gambling establishments like Caesars Sportsbook, FanDuel and DraftKings.

Nope. It really isn’t. It’s actually quite simple. If you play in the NFL, you cannot bet on the NFL.

There. I summarized it in one sentence. Not difficult.

Others would like you to excuse Ridley’s behavior due to other unfortunate league suspensions in the past.

You know, I take my words back. Blame-shifting is not America’s third favorite pastime. And what is.

Indeed, the league decided to cooperate with gambling organizations. So what? This is for the fans. Not players. One has nothing to do with the other. In fact, people bet on games in the hope that gamblers are not involved in gambling because they in no way want to think that the results are fixed.

True. The NFL generated an estimated $1.8 billion in sponsorship income through companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel. And, as FoxBusiness.com pointed out in 2020, the collective bargaining agreement “includes a provision that any money generated from sports betting is subject to revenue sharing, ensuring that gamblers get a cut.”

So let’s not pretend that the players are closed. Not to mention that the more people gamble, the more often they watch the games and watch the longer part of those games. More advertising revenue goes to the collective bargaining agreement. Much of the change goes to the players when the salary cap is announced each year. Etc.

The players here are hardly exploited victims. Especially Ridley, who tried to bend the rules.

Connected:

• First bell: Mike Florio advances Steelers-Aaron Rodgers tie; potential value of the best free agent center
• The Penguins are set to score maximum points in three upcoming home games.

One more thing needs to be said. Let’s stop pretending that if the NFL hadn’t formalized its connection with the world of gambling, this would never have happened. Sports gambling laws collapsed in 2018 and there has been a multi-billion dollar surge since then.

Are any of you trying to convince me that if it wasn’t for the NFL partnership, Ridley would never have made these bets? Do you expect me to believe it?

Ridley deserved a suspension. He must serve at least a year. But like I said, this is America in 2022. The media in general, and Twitter in particular, will continue to portray Ridley as the victim in this situation, and I assume that his suspension will eventually be reduced.

I will install more-less for 8.5 games. Is Ridley allowed to bet on his appeal?

Tim Benz is a staff columnist for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless otherwise noted.