Calvin Ridley hopes his fellow NFL players will learn from his gambling suspension

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley said he hopes that his fellow NFL players will learn from his mistakes.

After Ridley received a yearlong suspension in 2022 for gambling on NFL games while he was with the Atlanta Falcons, he’s speaking out about the recent suspensions of league players for similar offenses to the NFL’s gambling policy.

Speaking with the Florida Union-Times, Ridley talked about how he’s a bit perturbed that his suspension didn’t prevent the suspensions that followed his.

“Yeah, it bugs me a little because my NFL buddies didn’t look at me and say, ‘Aw man, hell, that’s serious,'” Ridley told the Times-Union on Monday after the Jaguars held mandatory minicamp.

“I wish they would’ve looked at me and said, ‘Wow, they did him like that? I hope it doesn’t happen to me.’ Because that’s what I would’ve done. If I would’ve seen one of my NFL buddies get slammed like that, I would’ve been a little bit afraid and watching myself. But you know, it is what it is, they have to learn the hard way like I did. It’s gonna be alright though.”

The new Jaguars wideout said he’s already spoken with some of his fellow players about how to avoid violating the NFL’s gambling policy.

“A couple guys reached out. I just schooled them on what I know and how serious it is,” Ridley said. “I think, even for me, once I found out I was getting investigated, I didn’t even know [how serious it was]. I was like, ‘okay, cool.’ I didn’t know how serious it was until I left that interview.