Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley was recently reinstated to the NFL after being suspended for a year due to gambling on NFL games including Falcon games.
Ridley says he wasn’t in a good place when he downloaded a gambling app and used $1,500 to bet on NBA and NFL games. Now that he is reinstated to the NFL, he is speaking out on his mistake and calls it the worst mistake of his life in his The Players’ Tribune piece.
It started with my body breaking down. Hardly anybody knows this, but I played most of the 2020 season with a broken foot. Remember that 1,300-yard season? Nine touchdowns? I was killing it on one foot, for real. Actually, I had played through bone spurs my first two years. Just gritted through it with painkillers. But then, my third year, the wheels came off. Week 8, we were playing Carolina and I remember looking at Julio and I just knew. I said, “Nah, bro, this is different. My shit broke.”
When I got the MRI, though, the trainer told me it was just a bone bruise. So I kept it pushing. I took Toradol shots every Sunday, and I finished the season. Listen, I know the deal. I’m a football player. It was my decision. I know what we get paid for, you feel me? If it’s really just a bruise, I’m gonna be out there.
I f***ed up. I’m not here to sugarcoat anything. In 2021, I made the worst mistake of my life by gambling on football.
I paid the price, believe me. I’ve seen all the jokes. I’ve seen all the hate. And I can shoulder all of that, no problem. All I want is for people to understand that, when I made those bets, there was a hell of a lot more going on with me.
“I just f—ed up. Period. In a dark moment, I made a stupid mistake. I wasn’t trying to cheat the game. That’s the thing I want to make clear. At the time, I had been away from the team for about a month. I was still just so depressed and angry, and the days were so long. I was just looking for anything to take my mind off of things and make the day go faster.”
Ridley says that he is in a good place and feels stronger than ever, saying
Right now, I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt — mentally and physically. On the field, I’m flying. Believe me, I’m flying. That GPS band don’t lie. On my daughter’s name, if I’m healthy? With Trevor Lawrence? I’m giving Jacksonville 1,400 yards a season, period.
Going to be a very interesting season for the Jaguars next season.
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