On Friday, the NFL announced significant changes to the gambling policy for players. On Monday, the NFL Players Association made it clear that it will seek even more changes.
The NFLPA has sent an email to all contract advisors regarding the new gambling policy.
“We got them to move on some ‘common sense’ points, but they haven’t moved all the way,” the email explained. “The biggest change they made last week is changing the punishment for players who gamble on non-NFL games at the facility from 6 games to 2 games. They also agreed to reduce the suspensions for the 3 players who were suspended a few weeks ago for gambling on non-NFL games at their facility from 6 games to 4 games.
“As you know, this policy is not collectively bargained, but is instead issued by the league pursuant to the Commissioner’s authority regarding matters relating to conduct detrimental. These changes reflect a positive move and we will continue to push them on other items in the next several weeks and months.”
Any changes count as progress, given that the league completely controls the policy. As we’ve said in the past, it would make far more sense for players to be told that, like non-players, they can’t gamble on any sports, period. The idea that it’s an integrity-of-the-game issue if the player places a bet on basketball in the lobby to the facility but no problem at all if he walks out the front door and does it on the sidewalk makes absolutely no sense.
Weeks ago, Chris Simms suggested on PFT Live that perhaps the NFL lets players gamble on other sports because the sports books who are paying the league millions want to harvest losing bets from young, rich men who have yet to realize that they can’t win. While no one will ever admit this, the league’s bizarre split between players and non-players, and the strange bright line between permitted and prohibited betting, fuels the idea that the NFL’s official sports book partners prefer the opportunity to do business with the whales who draw NFL salaries.