Patriots’ Kayshon Boutte cleared of gambling charges

Big sports leagues in the United States are wrestling with the proliferation of sports gambling by elite athletes, student-athletes, and staffers. However, not all stories have to end badly, with Kayshon Boutte, the New England Patriots’ wide receiver now cleared of gambling charges levelled against him in the state of Louisiana.

Boutte charges are now dropped, says NFL player’s attorney

The news was confirmed to ESPN, which did the original reporting, by Boutte’s attorney who said that the 22-year-old ace would not have to worry about his career in the NFL. This remains to be seen. Boutte was arrested in January this year, and his name was tied to illegal sports betting while he was playing for Louisiana State University as a student-athlete.

He was investigated over supposed bets he placed between April 6, 2022, and May 7, 2023. Other than gambling when he was not allowed to, Boutte was also underaged at the time – 20. He would have needed to be 21 to actually access a betting platform, so he had to use an alias to get around this.

Boutte is also said to have been able to place 8,900 bets – or at least the account he was using registered that many wagers. According to investigators, 17 of these were placed on NCAAF, and adding insult to injury – six were on games that involved his university.

Boutte is also said to have wagered a week into his NFL contract, before stopping – most likely because he was caught up to the NFL’s Gambling Policy.

The fact he was allegedly able to gamble as an underage individual gives some credence to gambling critics warning of the inadequacy of some age-related restrictions used by betting platforms in the United States.

His team has mostly had his back, with Jerod Mayo, the coach, allowing Boutte to take part in the spring practices with the team but cautiously telling media that he would wait for further instructions from the National Football League before he could make any official statements about the fate of Boutte as part of the Patriots.

Talented wide receiver but a nod from the NFL needed

Yet, the charges against him dropped is surely a relief, albeit Boutte will have to be on the straight and narrow from here on in.

The NFL has taken a dim view of gambling and it has issued strict updates to its Gambling Policy, informing players of the do’s and mostly don’ts of the allowed conduct involving sports gambling (it’s mostly not.) The NFL has shown leniency in multiple cases, though, including the case of Isaiah Rodgers as recently as April this year.

These tougher rules come as a direct response following a series of scandals that have rocked some of the biggest varsity programs in elite colleges all over the country, naming coaches and players as complicit in illegal gambling.

Meanwhile, the Patriots, cagey as they may appear in public awaiting a nod from the NFL, are keen on keeping Boutte who broke a record with 308 receiving yards when he was playing for Louisiana (all in a single game).

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