{"id":130791,"date":"2022-03-07T17:29:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T22:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=130791"},"modified":"2022-03-07T17:32:55","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T22:32:55","slug":"calvin-ridley-suspended-due-to-violation-of-nfl-gambling-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/03\/07\/calvin-ridley-suspended-due-to-violation-of-nfl-gambling-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Calvin Ridley Suspended Due to Violation of NFL Gambling Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RidlCa00.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Calvin Ridley<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, wide receiver for the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/falcons\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Atlanta Falcons<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, has been suspended for the 2022 NFL season due to violating the league\u2019s gambling policy. Ridley was gambling from November 23-November 28 from his phone in Florida. The dates coincide with the Atlanta Falcons game where they faced the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. As of now, there has been no sign of insider trading.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Gambling Violation Leads to Calvin Ridley Being Suspended<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Calvin Ridley was to be one of Atlanta\u2019s premier pieces of trade bait this off-season. The Falcons, before this story, were $7 million over the cap. Parting with Ridley\u2019s $11 million contract was a perfect way to gain draft capital while giving Ridley and the Falcons\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/falcons\/news\/atlanta-calvin-ridley-trade-owner-arthur-blank-rumor-fresh-start\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201ca fresh start\u201d<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0as told by owner Arthur Blank. Ridley has not been with the team since he\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/10\/31\/calvin-ridley-out-panthers-personal-issue\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">departed<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0on Halloween of 2021 before a game against the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/nfl-teams2\/panthers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Carolina Panthers<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Falcons have been aware of this incident since February 9, according to their statement. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Atlanta Falcons\u2019 statement on the NFL investigation of Calvin Ridley: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gr3Qc7iqjJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/gr3Qc7iqjJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/1500936642546253826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There have been interests from various teams, such as the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/patriots\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">New England Patriots<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/browns\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cleveland Browns<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for the former Alabama receiver before this story broke. However, the Falcons brass quieted those talks until this news broke.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Multiple NFL teams reached out to the Falcons in recent weeks to inquire about trading for Calvin Ridley, and each time, Atlanta declined to enter into any talks out of good faith, knowing the issues in store for their standout wide receiver, per sources.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/1500935745917403138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For Ridley, this may mark the beginning of the end to a career that had a lot of promise. While Julio Jones was struggling with injury in 2020, Ridley showed that he could be a viable weapon for the Atlanta offense. He gained 1374 yards and hauled in nine touchdowns that season. Thus giving Atlanta fans hope that, when Julio eventually departed, Ridley would step in as the heir apparent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ridley has since shared his thoughts about the NFL\u2019s decision through various tweets.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Calvin Ridley reaction: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WhLieUcqC4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WhLieUcqC4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/1500952234896543746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Falcons will now quickly turn their attention to wide receiver in the NFL draft or free agency. Most importantly, though, they should help Ridley get the much-needed help he seems to desperately require.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"idOAUmlWSudOZha-2qdShg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1344634018\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'idOAUmlWSudOZha-2qdShg',sig:'CpE6mXf7giLSy3DHIHqHiNQ3lBALSzWJgnC5QsL0mmI=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1344634018',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Calvin Ridley is set to be suspended for one year due to a violation of NFL gambling policy during the 2021 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3893,"featured_media":130798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,36],"tags":[3331,8026,246],"class_list":["post-130791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-falcons","category-nfl-news","tag-calvin-ridley","tag-falcons-featured","tag-nfl-news"],"modified_by":"Will Koshover, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}