This is draft week in the NFL where there have been stories galore during this off-season.
The draft starts Thursday. Who will go Number One?
Will teams move up or move down?
Will the Aaron Rodgers trade to the Jets finally happen?
Dan Snyder is out as owner of the Washington Commanders.
All sorts of stuff.
But one story is alarming, to say the least.
It’s really the most important one.
The NFL suspended five players for sports gambling.
Four of them are members of the Detroit Lions. Two of their players were suspended indefinitely, through at least 2023.
Two others received six-game bans, including the most prominent, wide receiver Jameson Williams.
This is the league’s biggest crackdown amid the huge promotion and encouragement of legal sports betting across America.
The league didn’t get specific concerning the violations, but while players are permitted to wager on non-NFL games, they are not allowed to do so while in any club facility.
This isn’t the first time players have been suspended for breaking the league’s sports betting rules, but it does mark the biggest group cited.
Old-timers may recall when Packers star running back Paul Hornung and Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras were suspended for the 1963 season by then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.
Both outstanding players ultimately were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But now, this serious issue is front and center once again.
And I don’t think we’ve seen the end.
I’ve been asked about the shocking reversal of professional sports leagues who once treated gambling as a real threat to the game’s integrity.
At one time, sports gambling was the prime enemy of sports.
Now, it has been celebrated, and encouraged by the very same leagues who welcome gambling sponsorships ad nauseum.
As it affects the audience, you could argue that it is up to the individual to make sound personal judgments, as he would when beer, and smoking products were prevalent as commercials for major league sports decades ago.
But where do we draw the line between the fan and the player, or the executive where betting is concerned?
My reaction to the suspensions is simply, is anyone really surprised?
The NFL has been speaking out of both sides of their mouths.
Gambling sponsorships have added to the league’s coffers in a big way.
If there’s more money to be made, bring it on.
If it opens the door to more fans, so much the better.
And players are in the game as well.
We know what you can learn and follow on your smart phone.
For players, it’s easy be involved.
I am concerned about the effects that are not apparent and visible.
I’ll start small.
Players, on the sidelines many be watching the scoreboard, curious about other games around the league.
At halftime, they may be checking other games on their phones.
Now, let’s move it up a notch.
If you bet, you’re out to win.
If you’re out to win, you make your best bet.
What if your best bet means betting against your team.
Players on the inside know what’s going on with their own team.
Remember, betting on games is not about who wins, but who covers the point spread.
Big difference.
I realize the fear has been in the past that players might be paid off to shave points. There were many instances of those scandals in college basketball where point-shaving was easy to accomplish.
I don’t worry about that in today’s pro sports where players earn huge sums, and payoffs to players wouldn’t make sense.
The betting line would reflect a big change, and the game might be taken off the board.
But those connected with the teams, even league personnel who are aware of inside information, might wager larger sums to win.
Where do you draw the line, and how do you know it doesn’t have an affect on performances on the field ?
Once the public becomes skeptical of the honesty of sports, the games we love to watch are no different that what we witnessed with pro wrestling.
Once integrity goes by the wayside, it’s over.
So, what can be done?
I’m afraid the genie is out of the bottle.
There is no way pro sports leagues will eliminate betting sponsorships.
The widespread availability of legalized gambling has become a way of life.
Habits that will be hard to break.
It’s now starting in high school, where loving the games, and having some money to spend, creates a betting existence that can only lead to a downward spiral.
As a result of the latest suspensions, the Lions released the two players, Quintez Cepheus and C.J.Moore, who were banned indefinitely.
A year ago, the NFL suspended Falcons star receiver Calvin Ridley indefinitely for betting on games. Ridley, later traded to Jacksonville, was reinstated last month.
Will there be others?
Will there be enough to affect a team’s roster?
Where will it end?
If it ends.
This week, teams will draft new players and it will be a big-time show as usual.
But lurking behind it all, is the most serious problem sports can have.
Where is it headed?