“He was gone anyway”: The Falcons had planned to get rid of Calvin Ridley even before the ‘gambling fiasco’
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Calvin Ridley
Calvin Ridley is a star footballer who has been through a lot of ups and downs in a relatively young career. The wide receiver plies his trade for the Atlanta Falcons was roped in by the franchise in the first round of the 2018 draft. Recently, Ridley found himself involved in a major controversy.
The NFL released a statement announcing Ridley’s suspension and he is all set to miss at least the 2022 season of the league. The league officials made the call as Ridley gambled on a number of games back in November 2021 which is obviously not legal for a contract-bound player.
Falcons almost traded Calvin Ridley before his suspension
Moreover, adding another twist to Ridley’s tale, Jay Glazer on the “Takeoff” podcast claimed that the Falcons were looking to trade Ridley even before the betting controversy took center stage. He stated that the trade was almost finalized but the Falcons “backed out at the last moment.“
According to Glazer, the Falcons were in trade talks with the Eagles but things suddenly went awry. This did cause a lot of confusion but the Falcons were actually not allowed to disclose the details of the NFL’s investigation into Ridley’s case. “Philly later respected the Falcons for how they handled the situation,” Glazer added.
Ridley had a pretty good season back in 2020. With 1,300 receiving yards, the man was looking in fine form, however, back in October 2021, he stepped away from the game citing mental health reasons. Just when everybody thought that the star player will make an emphatic comeback in 2022, he got himself involved in a major controversy that will cost him heavily.
Ridley’s future now hangs in the balance because of a $1500 bet. He has already lost millions because of it and it is still not clear if he’ll be allowed to return in 2023.
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Shubham Bhargava
(1813 Articles Published)