Call to relax gambling rules
The NFL survived Super Bowl week in Las Vegas without any scandals or, apparently, anyone breaking the league’s gambling rules. During the week, several members of the NFL Players Association said the league should relax its gambling rules, particularly the penalties for placing bets on other sports while in team facilities or at team functions.
The NFL already agreed to reduce that penalty from a six-game to a twogame suspension for a first offense, but the NFLPA believes there should be no penalty at all.
“I feel like the rules are outdated,” said Falcons defensive tackle Calais Campbell, an NFLPA vice president. “There was a time where it made sense, but now with our technology and being able to bet on baseball or basketball on your phone, I don’t understand why just because I’m in the locker room or whatever, that I can pick up my phone and do something that I want to do.
“We’re on an away trip and I’m on a flight, and I decided to go out to dinner and basketball games are playing, and guys want to bet on the basketball game. I don’t see the harm in that. If you pull up your phone and do a little $5 bet on the top or whatever. Where does it hurt anybody? And I don’t even do that during the season at all, because I know the rest of it and stuff like that. So I delete the apps off my phone and wait until the season ends before I ever download it back. But that’s just outdated rules.”
Extra points
Jerod Mayo quipped that the Patriots are “ready to burn some cash” this offseason, but so is every other team. The NFL announced Friday that the 2024 salary cap will be $255.4 million, an unprecedented jump of $30.6 million from last year. The NFL said the increase “is the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by the clubs and deferred by the players during the COVID pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season.” . . . Punter Matt Araiza finally has an NFL team, signing with the Chiefs on Thursday, 18 months after a 17-year-old girl dropped Araiza’s name from a lawsuit alleging gang rape at a college party and the San Diego County district attorney determined that Araiza was not present at the party at the time. Araiza, who set the NCAA record for average punt yards in 2021 (51.2), was a sixth-round pick by the Bills in 2022 but was released that August after the lawsuit surfaced. “I want to thank my family, who have been my rock, and my many friends who have been unwavering in their support,” Araiza posted Thursday . . . Calvin Ridley caught 76 balls for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns last year, but the Jaguars almost certainly won’t sign him before free agency begins. Per terms of the trade that sent Ridley from Atlanta to Jacksonville, the Jaguars would owe the Falcons a second-round pick (No. 48) if they sign Ridley to an extension before free agency begins, but would owe a third-round pick (No. 79) if they wait until free agency . . . In November 2022, the NFLPA called on all seven teams using slit-film artificial turf fields to switch to a different surface because of its higher rates for non-contact injuries, lower-extremity injuries, and more. Four of the teams got rid of slit film after 2022, and the other three, the Vikings, Colts, and Bengals, are doing so this offseason. “Hamilton County and the Bengals are committed to providing a top-level playing surface for NFL games, and this step confirms that commitment,” Steve Johnson, managing director of Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium, said this past week in announcing the switch . . . Nebraska football announced that Bill Belichick is going to be the headline speaker at its X’s & O’s clinic April 5-6. Belichick must still have a good relationship with Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule, who was the Panthers’ coach in 2022 when the Patriots and Panthers did joint practices . . . The 2024 Will McDonough Writing Contest, held each year in memory of the legendary Globe sportswriter, is accepting entries from students in grades 4-12 through March 6. Guidelines and entry information is available on The Sports Museum’s website.