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The NFL is just one of the many professional sports leagues that have embraced gambling with open odds as more and more states across the country have allowed people to place wagers within in their borders.
Roger Goodell has certainly changed his stance on that particular issue based on what he had to say about sports betting in 2016, which isn’t exactly a huge shock when you consider the NFL has undoubtedly reaped the benefits of the advertising revenue it’s generated through its partnerships with various sportsbooks.
While many football fans have taken advantage of this new frontier, one player suffered some major consequences after deciding to get in on the action.
Last year, former Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entirety of the 2022 season after he admitted to placing a number of bets during the midseason hiatus he took to focus on his mental health.
Ridley—who seemed to be fairly ambivalent about the suspension (which many people viewed as excessive based on other players who’d been forced to sit out for a shorter length despite arguably more serious infractions)—reportedly threw down a total of $1,500 on various parlays and forfeited $11 million in salary as a result.
There was obviously no way Ridley’s potential winnings came close to putting a dent into that second number, but it was also unclear how much money he’d made (or lost) as a result of those wagers.
However, it appears that mystery has now been solved.
On Tuesday, the Jaguars announced Ridley would be adopting 0 as his new jersey number after NFL owners approved a measure that gives certain players the green light to do so.
That led to one fan cracking a joke about how zero is reflective of the number of bets Ridley won, which prompted the wide receiver to reply in a now-deleted tweet where he claimed he won a grand total of $36,000 thanks to his bets.
That would be a pretty impressive flex if he hadn’t been forced to give up millions of dollars as a result, but it’s still nothing to scoff at.