National Football League

Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley apologizes for gambling after NFL reinstatement

Published Mar. 8, 2023 2:46 p.m. ET

Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley apologized for past actions and revealed struggles with injury and anxiety in a lengthy open letter published in The Players' Tribune on Wednesday, two days after the NFL reinstated Ridley from an indefinite suspension for gambling on NFL games, including one involving his then-team the Falcons.

"I f***ed up," Ridley wrote. "I’m not here to sugarcoat anything. In 2021, I made the worst mistake of my life by gambling on football."

Ridley missed the entire 2022 season due to the suspension and forfeited $11 million in salary. The wide receiver will make his Jaguars debut in 2023 after Jacksonville acquired the 28-year-old in a trade with the Falcons on October 2022 while Ridley was still suspended.

Ridley also disclosed he had dealt with injuries more severe than previously revealed, especially during his 1,374-yard, nine-touchdown season in 2020. According to Ridley, he played that year with a broken foot after dealing with bone spurs in his first two NFL seasons, but it was misdiagnosed by the Falcons' then-trainer as a bone bruise.

Ridley said his attempt to rush back from that surgery heading into the 2021 season ultimately hurt both his physical and mental health, and his struggles were only compounded when his house was robbed during the Falcons' Week 1 game that year. He stepped away from the Falcons soon after and started talking to a therapist.

"I was depressed," Ridley wrote. "I was battling anxiety. I didn’t even want to leave my house. Football was the only thing that ever gave my life meaning, and I couldn’t even find any joy in that at the time. Honestly, I couldn’t even get up off the chair in my living room. Everything was just … dark."

Ridley also detailed his time growing up in poverty and spending time in the foster care system, and the devastation he felt when he was contacted by NFL investigators and realized what he had done. According to Ridley, he had added a Falcons game to an NBA betting parlay on a whim just to support his team without any inside information, as he was still away at the time.

But Ridley expressed his excitement to get a fresh start with the Jaguars, where he joins an electric offense alongside Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Christian Krik and Zay Jones. The team also retained tight end Evan Engram with the franchise tag.

The Jaguars had zero contact with Ridley during his suspension, though Ridley often supported his new team on social media as the Jaguars made a surprise run to the divisional round of the playoffs just one year after finishing with the worst record in the NFL. His fellow Jaguars teammates Lawrence, Kirk and Jones expressed their excitement for Ridley to join them.

Ridley, a former first-round pick had 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns with the Falcons.

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