NFL allows Isaiah Rodgers to continue competing

The one-year suspension of Isaiah Rodgers, a Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, was lifted on Tuesday, the National Football League confirmed, with the player now reinstated and ready to play once again. Rogers was found guilty of breaking the NFL Gambling Policy last year, which has led to a revision of the existing rules within the league.

Yet, Rodgers received a fairly mild punishment, as he will now be allowed back into professional football, although he would need to be on the straight and narrow to win any team’s trust. The Eagles, though, are finding value in keeping Rodgers, and the team has been happy to allow the player back after the Indianapolis Colts waived him.

The Eagles are now banking on Rodgers, 26, proving a good pick for the team in the upcoming season. Rodgers is one of a dozen players who have been suspended at the beginning of the 2022/2023 season over betting-related and gambling offenses that breached the league’s code of conduct, and put under serious doubt how efficient existing safeguards for maintaining league integrity are.

Before the 2023 punishment of a number of players, the NFL has had a fairly modest track record with suspending players over gambling offenses. Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was issued a suspension for an entire season in 2022.

An earlier penalty went to Arizona Cardinals defensive back Josh Shaw. Before these incidents, however, the league has not punished that many players for gambling offenses. Going back several decades, suspensions were issued in 1963 and 1983.

Professional athletes in the United States have come under a lot of pressure, as they are expected to meet robust integrity rules. Some of these rules have been too vague, players have argued, with professional leagues now doing more to ensure that all members of the organizations are aware of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to gambling.

Unlike the National Basketball Association (NBA), the NFL has issued a single permanent ban. This is not the case for the NBA which handed down the toughest penalty to one of the youngest players on the court, Jontay Porter, an ex-Toronto Raptors player, who will not be able to compete in professional basketball ever again.

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