The NFL held a conference call with teams regarding the growing issues with the league’s rule on gambling.
It’s a touchy subject around the league. Nowhere is it more topical than in Detroit, where the Lions will not have the services of speedy wideout Jameson Williams for the first six games of the season. Williams was among four Lions players suspended this spring for 2022 violations of the NFL’s rules on online betting.
In an effort to put the toothpaste back in the tube, the NFL is trying to accommodate both the individual freedoms of players as well as not step on the toes of the critically important gambling industry.
From a tweet from Ian Rapoport, here are the rules and points of emphasis distributed to teams and the NFLPA:
The NFL has never officially revealed which specific rule Williams violated, nor has Jamo himself. And at this point, it doesn’t really matter, unfortunately.
Despite the outcry that the six-game sentence is too harsh, the NFL is in no position to shorten Williams’ suspension. He’s the prominent example, the current poster child for what happens when a player runs afoul of the rules — no matter how nonsensical, hypocritical and inconsistent those rules might be.
Williams’ own admission of guilt doesn’t help any cases to have his suspension reduced, either. The NFL is not going to lay down the precedence of shortening the suspension of a player who acknowledged his own violation of the rules. They don’t do it with performance-enhancing drugs; they certainly won’t with something they’re heavily emphasizing now like gambling.
The best that the Lions and Williams can hope for is that the league and the NFLPA work on updating the rules to more accurately reflect the modern landscape of sports gambling around the country. The rules still largely hold to a time when betting on sports was illegal almost everywhere. It’s legal in Michigan, among many states.
If the NFL wants to have players respect the rule, maybe stop the ridiculous courtship of gambling sponsorships while simultaneously telling players they’re forbidden from participating in a legal activity that helps pay their salaries. Hopefully Williams and the exiled Lions are the last examples made by the NFL in its antiquated, complicated relationship with sports gambling.
