Veteran Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, Colts defensive end Rashod Berry, and free agent defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor have all been suspended indefinitely as part of the NFL’s recent investigation into gambling allegations, according to a league press release dated was announced Thursday. The league found that Rodgers, Berry and Taylor all had bets on NFL games in the 2022 season. They are all eligible to apply to resume the league after the 2023 season is over. As a result, the Colts waived both Rodgers and Berry shortly after the news broke.
Tennessee Titans forward Nicholas Petit-Frere was also suspended Thursday for six games instead of indefinitely for betting on non-NFL sports at the Titans’ facility. Part of the league’s gambling rules states that no NFL employee may gamble at any club or league facility/venue, including a team’s practice facility.
A year after Calvin Ridley, former Falcons wide receiver and current Jaguars wide receiver, was suspended for all of 2022 for betting on NFL games, the NFL has now suspended nine more players this offseason, including the Lions wide Receiver Jameson Williams. Earlier this month, reports indicated the NFL was preparing for a second wave of suspensions, including Rodgers.
As a fourth-year cornerback and kick-returner for the Colts, Rodgers shortly afterwards took “full responsibility” for his alleged gambling and apologized via social media. Now he is expected to miss all of 2023 due to “pervasive betting activity,” Sports Handle reported. There is reportedly evidence that Rodgers used an acquaintance to place some bets on his own team during the 2022 season.
The NFL does not allow players to wager on NFL games, place wagers on other sports from team facilities or hotels, have other wagers placed for them, provide “inside information” about wagering, or participate in daily fantasy football, or to Participate in a sportsbook during the season, according to ESPN.
Earlier in the year, Williams and Lions fullback Stanley Berryhill were suspended for six games for betting at team facilities, and Lions WR Quintez Cephus and safety CJ Moore and Commanders defenseman Shaka Toney were indefinitely suspended for betting on NFL games. Of these players, Berryhill, Cephus and Moore were later released.