Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker and former Chicago Bears great Brian Urlacher is questioning the severity of the NFL’s suspension of Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for wagering on NFL games in 2021.
Speaking to media Saturday as part of the Chicago-centric FanDuel FanFest adjacent to Guaranteed Rate Field, Urlacher suggested Ridley’s suspension was excessive given the receiver had no impact as a player on the game he wagered on. Ridley is believed to have made six wagers on Falcons games totaling $3,900 in a five-day span last year while he was away from the team on the non-football illness list. Ridley’s suspension runs through the entire 2022 season at a minimum.
“I think they (the NFL) are making a lot more money. I think that’s what they’re all about, right,” Urlacher said in response to a question about the league’s embrace of legalized sports wagering. “The problem I have with it is if you’re going to suspend guys for betting on games they’re not involved in, then you may want to watch your partnerships and stuff like that. Because they’re promoting it, and the kid last year for Atlanta got suspended for a while, but it wasn’t a game he was playing in, it wasn’t a game he had any control of. …
“I get it, I understand it, but I think it’s contradictory at the same time.”