They’re barely in the NFL, and they’re already jumping with both feet onto the wrong side of the NFL’s gambling policy. If they’ve even been told about the NFL’s gambling policy.
Giants receiver Malik Nabers, appearing on The Pivot podcast at the draft, said this regarding former LSU teammate (and new Commanders quarterback) Jayden Daniels: “We got a bet going for rookie of the year. Whoever lose gotta pay I think it’s $10,000 cash.”
Daniels was asked about that during a recent podcast appearance with Keyshawn Johnson. Here’s the exchange:
Daniels: “Man, he wasn’t supposed to tell nobody. It’s supposed to be — we got a little something going on.”
Johnson: “What’s the bet though? Is it money or is it —"
Daniels: “Yes, money.”
Johnson: “How much?”
Daniels: “Ten. Who won rookie of the year.”
Johnson: “That’s nothing for y’all now.”
Daniels: “I mean, he put it out there, so it’s like I can’t say he cap, so.”
Daniels seemed to realize it’s not something that should be advertised. It’s also something that shouldn’t be done. And that’s something anyone who has been following the NFL for the past year or so already knows.
For those inclined to say we’re snitching on Nabers and Daniels (and some will undoubtedly say that), they told on themselves. They said it on public forums. It’s out there.
Their nonchalance speaks to the deeper issues the NFL is facing (or, as the case may be, ignoring) regarding the ongoing influx of new players who have come of age in an era of legalized, and desensitized, gambling. The stigma is long gone. Kids who haven’t been following the various ups and downs and ins and outs of the NFL might not know much if anything about the rules.
Nabers and Daniels should know. It’s something the NFL should tell them before they’re drafted.
We’ve asked the NFL about this one, along with several related questions. For more commentary on the issue, check out the attached video.
The fact that Nabers and Daniels had no qualms about making a five-figure wager is a symptom of a far deeper problem that the league seemingly isn’t taking seriously. And it’s a problem that flows from the NFL’s inherently contradictory and hypocritical stance on gambling, which allows ownership to pocket plenty of cash (and to hold equity in sports book companies) while dropping the players into a minefield that they must figure out how to navigate, with our without effective or timely guidance.
It didn’t have to be this way. The league didn’t have to jump into bed with the sports books. The league could have said, “We shun gambling. We require our players to do so, too. And we remind our fans that the entire system is rigged for you to lose your money, over time.”
But the league didn’t do that. Because the league saw easy money. And it also saw a way to become the most powerful party to the gambling relationship: the house.
