Isaiah Rodgers returns to the NFL as a reminder of the challenges athletes and their teams face in the new sports-betting era. (Image: Zach Bolinger/Associated Press/Alamy)

The NFL has lifted the suspension on cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, ending his nearly one-year ban from the league for gambling on football.

Rodgers was suspended on June 29, 2023 after the NFL found that he had made more than 100 bets on league games at a regulated sportsbook in Indiana. 

Those bets were in violation of the NFL’s gambling policy, which prohibits any player from placing, soliciting, or facilitating any bet on any NFL event. 

Eagles Place Their Bets on Rodgers’ Talent

The Indianapolis Colts released Rodgers on the same day that he was suspended. In August, the Philadelphia Eagles picked him up, adding him to the Reserve Suspended List. Despite understanding Rodgers’ situation, the Eagles were willing to take a chance on the 26-year-old.

“We did work on him coming out of the draft, saw his pro tape,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said of the signing last summer. “He is a talented guy, and obviously he made a mistake, and he has apologized for that mistake. We believe in second chances, and now it’s on him.”

According to Rodgers, that mistake wasn’t actually wagering on NFL games himself. Instead, he made a series of bets on behalf of friends and family, something that is just as prohibited under league policy.

“Just trying to help friends and family out, just knowing that it wasn’t legal at the time in Florida and it was in Indiana,” Rodgers told ESPN earlier this year. “At the end of the day I knew the rules, I wasn’t supposed to do it and I got to take what comes with it.”

While most of the bets were between $25 and $50 – “It was never, ‘This bet here is going to change my life,’” as Rodgers said to ESPN – one bet stood out: a $1,000 prop bet on how many yards Colts running back Johnathan Taylor would rush for in a game. According to Rodgers, that bet wasn’t even placed by him personally, but from someone else accessing his sportsbook account on another device. 

Rodgers played three seasons with the Colts, appearing in 45 games and recording three interceptions. He also served as a kick returner, taking one return 101 yards for a touchdown in his rookie year

Gambling Scandals Mount Across Major Sports Leagues

Of the major North American sports leagues, the NFL has had the most high-profile suspensions related to gambling. Last week, the NFL reinstated five other players who were suspended last year for gambling policy violations, though all five are currently free agents. 

In total, the NFL suspended nine players in its first two waves of gambling related suspensions las year, with bans ranging from six games to indefinite suspensions based on the severity of the violations. 

However, the NFL has avoided some of the major scandals that other leagues have seen in recent weeks. Major League Baseball has been dealing with a gambling scandal involving Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, in which the Japanese two-way player’s translator – Ippei Mizuhara – has been accused by federal authorities of stealing 'link_text_goes_here','CC - News - US - Article','50310','','','','gtm-content-internal-links'6 million from the player to fund his illegal sports betting habit.

Meanwhile, the NBA issued a lifetime ban to former Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter last week for violating its league gambling policy. Porter allegedly bet on basketball games and provided inside information to associates on games he played in.