NFL bans three players for entire 2023 season for breaking gambling rules

The NFL has suspended three players for violating the league’s gambling rules.

Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry of the Indianapolis Colts and free agent Demetrius Taylor have been suspended indefinitely until at least the end of the 2023 season for betting on NFL games in the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans’ Nicholas Petit-Frere has been suspended for the team’s first six regular season games of the 2023 season for betting on non-NFL sports.

Petit-Frere’s lighter suspension is consistent with him betting on non-NFL sports while at the Titans facility. According to the league, he can participate in all off-season and pre-season activities, including pre-season games.

Taylor was released by the Detroit Lions on May 9 after initially being picked up by the NFC North franchise as an undrafted free agent from App State.

The Colts confirmed earlier this month that one of their players – then reportedly Rodgers – was under investigation by the league for his gambling activities.

Colts defense end Rashod Berry, like Rodgers, will miss the next season at a minimum

Free agent and former Detroit Lions undrafted free agent Demetrius Taylor is also suspended

The NFL emphasized its commitment to training league players after recent infractions

It follows the league’s imminent release of six “key rules” that players must abide by to avoid penalties similar to those faced by Berry, Rodgers, Petit-Frere, Calvin Ridley, Jameson Williams and Co.

They are: Don’t bet on the NFL; Do not gamble at your team facility while traveling for a game or staying at a team hotel; Don’t let anyone bet for you; Don’t share team inside information; Don’t go to a sportsbook during NFL playing season; Don’t play fantasy football every day.

What remains unexplained is why players can bet on other sports during their time away from the facility, per the aforementioned terms, yet other league and team personnel – including staff and coaches – cannot at any time.

Then there’s the problem that sports betting is illegal in three states – Florida, Texas and California – where eight franchises reside; Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa Bay, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, along with LA’s Rams and Chargers.

“Sports gambling is much more present in people’s lives than it was a few years ago,” Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, told reporters.

That means for us if [a] sports competition – where integrity of the game is the highest principle – that we must be thoughtful, careful and scrutinize how we share information and inform people of the rules that apply to it.”

The doorstep of the NFL’s league office at 345 Park Ave has been criticized, in some cases regarding educating players about the dos and don’ts of gambling policies.

Williams, the Lions’ talented second-year receiver, said last month that he was “unaware” of the policy before receiving a six-game suspension — one of four Detroit players suspended.