sport news 'I f***ed up!': Calvin Ridley calls betting on NFL games 'the WORST mistake of ... trends now
Two days after being reinstated by the NFL, Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley has spoken at length about his gambling suspension.
The NFL suspended Ridley in March of last year for betting on NFL games over a five-day period while away from the team in late 2021, though Ridley has said now he didn't mean to 'tarnish the game' and was battling depression and anxiety.
'In 2021, I made the worst mistake of my life by gambling on football,' he said in an article for The Players' Tribune.
'I paid the price, believe me. I've seen all the jokes. I've seen all the hate. And I can shoulder all of that, no problem. All I want is for people to understand that, when I made those bets, there was a hell of a lot more going on with me.
'Back then, I was depressed. I was battling anxiety. I didn't even want to leave my house. Football was the only thing that ever gave my life meaning, and I couldn't even find any joy in that at the time. Honestly, I couldn't even get up off the chair in my living room. Everything was just … dark.'
Calvin Ridley last played in the NFL on October 24, 2021 for the Falcons
The ex-Falcons receiver missed a whole year due to his gambling suspension
Ridley then detailed that he had been battling foot problems for the first three seasons of his career, and was diagnosed with a broken foot two months before the start of the 2021 season.
The former Falcons receiver recovered from the surgery in time for the season, but said he was 'mentally drained' and started to experience anxiety around this
