Mike Florio, by his own admission, loves a good NFL conspiracy, and he’s got quite the take amid the fallout from the latest round of suspensions for sports betting.
NFL players continue to get popped for breaking rules around sports betting. This week saw three players – Isaiah Rodgers, Rashod Berry and Demetrius Taylor – get at least one-year suspensions for placing bets on NFL games. Nicholas Petit-Frere also got a six-game suspension for betting on a non-NFL sport while at the team facility.
The league has tried to educate players on the rules, yet these types of issues continue to happen. In fairness, some of the rules are a little unusual – such as the one Petit-Frere got pinched for. He could’ve wagered on a non-NFL game had he not been at the team facility. At the end of the day though, the onus is on the player to make sure he's following the rules.
Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones, responding to the suspensions on Twitter, pointed out, “I understand rules are rules, but I can risk my life so that my team wins but I can’t risk 1k on my team winning.”
Florio, citing Jones’ tweet specifically during his weekly appearance on “The Joe Rose Show,” concurred.
“If the whole thing is about the integrity of the game, I thought about this last night, you’re already trying to win the game – why can’t you make a moneyline bet on your team to win?” Florio posited. “The spread could be a problem, because you could be up seven with a 10-point spread late in the game … but a moneyline wager is completely consistent with the inherent objective of every team in every game. You play to win the game as Herm Edwards once said. Why can’t a player make a moneyline bet on his team to win? ...
“Why not carve out an exception, let guys make a moneyline wager on their team to win? That does not affect the integrity of the game. Tell me how it affects the integrity of the game if a guy who is already trying to win bets on his team to win.”
Obviously, such a change in rules seems like a longshot and would undoubtedly open some cans of worms. Florio argued that since players are using accounts on their phones, sportsbooks would know if players were betting beyond moneyline wagers on their team to win.
Independent of the fact that players are breaking the rules as currently constructed, there is hypocrisy on the NFL's part in all of this. The NFL is more than happy to take millions of dollars from sportsbooks because it’s to their benefit, but will turn around and suspend players for taking part in something the league is profiting from.
“Here’s the problem. The NFL doesn’t have the moral authority to get on the soapbox and make those arguments because they’re stuffing their pockets full of gambling money and they’re letting owners have ownership interest in sportsbook companies,” Florio said. “I think this is one of the reasons why they’ve been pissing down their leg with this whole thing, because they know the inherent hypocrisy of their position.
“This thing would be so much easier for the league if they had said (when legalized wagering began) … we’re going to continue to have an antagonistic relationship with gambling. We’re going to continue to preach against the evils of it, we’re going to continue to take the position that we will take no dollars from anyone, directly or indirectly associated with gambling. Boy, wouldn’t that give them a lot greater moral authority to tell their players what to do and what not to do?
“Because this is a do as we say, not as we do type of thing for the league, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’re having these problems. They know the inherent inconsistency with their approach.”
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