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Calvin Ridley is hopeful that the red hot Jacksonville Jaguars take him back in 2023.
He applied for reinstatement Wednesday following a violation of NFL's gambling policy.
The receiver received a one-year suspension for betting $1,500 on football via the short-lived Hard Rock app while away from the Falcons in Florida during the 2021 season.
Barring evidence of further violations during the suspension, Ridley should be immediately reinstated, says Mike Florio of NBC Sports.
"The league has made its point, with a swift, strong, and stringent suspension that shows the league’s willingness to protect the integrity of the game. It’s the periodic piece of low-hanging fruit that the league will pluck and squash with both feet in order to persuade casual observers that the NFL is doing everything it can to protect Big Shield."
"Your actions put the integrity of the game at risk, threatened to damage public confidence in professional football, and potentially undermined the reputations of your fellow players throughout the NFL," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote to Ridley in a letter informing him of his indefinite suspension.
Since a Supreme Court ruling to abolish decades of prohibition against sports betting, the NFL has now embraced the activity while claiming the game's integrity still remains the focus. Ironically, the league had long fought efforts to legalize sports gambling, including the case that made it to the high court.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
