In suspending Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for a season, the NFL on Monday did what it always does: thumped its chest with the equivalent of a low-hanging-fruit arrest to pretend it is tough on gambling, while allowing the league’s owners to operate in the gray area with complete impunity.
Ridley did not play in the team’s final 11 games last season, after announcing he was stepping away to focus on his mental health. He then gambled on games while he was away from the Falcons on the nonfootball injury list, according to The MMQB’s Albert Breer and other media reports.