Calvin Ridley was suspended for betting on games while he was away from the Atlanta Falcons on the non-football illness list. Here’s the statement from the NFL (via Mike Garafolo) –

 

If you remember, Calvin Ridley left the Falcons in November, citing personal issues. Sometime within those five days he was away from the team, he placed bets through his phone. So did he bet on spreads, overs, parlays?  How much did he bet? We got all the answers thanks to NFL insiders and Calvin Ridley himself:

via Calvin Ridley’s Twitter

via Calvin Ridley’s Twitter

The face when you bet $1,500 on Matt Ryan and you lose $11 million:

via Giphy

The NFL claims Ridley didn’t have any insider knowledge when placing bets, but how can that make sense? He was away from the team for less than a week. Even if he knew something like Matt Ryan having an injured pinky that the Falcons didn’t disclose, that’s an unfair advantage. You have to be an idiot to bet on your own team on your own phone. The Rookie Symposium should’ve never got rid of Chris Carter because maybe then Calvin Ridley never gets caught and the NFL doesn’t get into another mess. You always have a fall guy.

P.S. – Do we all have friends who give this type of analysis every time big news breaks in sports? –

This is my buddy Mike. The king of “No Shit Analysis”. He loves addressing that he knows the obvious and than stating the obvious. Can’t control his fingers enough to not type it out. I love him for it because he’s like a dog chasing his tail hoping one time he’s going to make an obvious point no one has thought of.