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The legalization of sports betting, coupled with the NFL’s adoption of multiple gambling sponsorships, creates many concerns that would require careful thought, a well-designed strategy and a lot of money to address properly, in order to give the impression that the league takes the situation very seriously. Arguably, the league has instead chosen to throw the book at anyone who crosses the fairly clear line of “you won’t bet”.
Violators who gamble on things they shouldn’t get a minimum suspension of one year, no questions asked. Recipient Calvin Riley, who bet about $1,500 on a five-game bet while away from the Falcons during the 2021 season, was handed a minimum one-year ban. The league imposed the same sentence on Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin, even though he did not bet on football.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Austin (who has made millions during his playing career) was betting around $50 here and there on basketball games. He did not know that he was prevented from betting on sports other than football.
How could he not know, you ask? The problem is that two standards apply. Players can bet on sports other than football; coaches cannot. As the source explained, some coaches (especially former players turned coaches) are unaware of the distinction.
But the league doesn’t care. There is no explanation, judgment or anything other than “come back, one year.”
And the league leaked the information to its internal media conglomerate before Austin’s appeal was resolved. Two days before Christmas.
According to the source, Austin’s contract expires after the season. Why not let him finish the year and go away quietly?
This, of course, would have prevented the NFL from putting a header on a spike at the DraftKing’s Landing border.
Meanwhile, others are receiving far lesser punishments for arguably far greater slights to the game or The Shield. Six games for steroids. Six games, baseline, for domestic violence. Eleven games for Deshaun WatsonThe extended pattern of trying to turn massage therapy sessions into sexual encounters.
The league will say there can be no tolerance for any type of play, which requires extreme punishment even in the most innocuous of cases – and even though the coach can honestly say he didn’t know he could not bet on sports other than Football. That’s fine, as long as the league brings that same energy to other ways the intersection of football and legalized gambling can create problems.
A simple (but unrealistic) approach would be to stop taking money from sports betting. The fact that Austin was suspended for using an app created by a sportsbook that sponsors the NFL makes it all sound crazy.
Of course, the horse has long since left the stable on that one. The income stream will not be abandoned, not at this stage. But some of that money should be used to strengthen refereeing (full-time officials, to start with), to adopt technology that will help with match refereeing (cameras in all pylons, for example) and to adopt clear and firm policies. and practices for protecting privileged information (such as injuries that are not commonly known).
Until the league makes it clear that steps are being taken to avoid far greater threats to the integrity of the game than an assistant coach betting $50 on basketball games, any effort to publicly shame him. then pushing him out of the NFL for at least a year feels like a facade aimed at creating the impression that the league takes the many threats presented by legalized gambling seriously.
Even if it’s not.
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