Calvin Ridley: 'I made a stupid mistake' betting on NFL games

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley said he gambled on football during a period when he was depressed and angry and called it «stupid» and the "'worst mistake of his life."

Ridley said in a piece posted on The Players' Tribune that he was not in a good place after leaving the Atlanta Falcons to concentrate on his mental health when he downloaded a gambling app, deposited $1,500, and bet on NBA and NFL games, including the Falcons.

«I just f---ed up. Period.» Ridley wrote. «In a dark moment, I made a stupid mistake. I wasn't trying to cheat the game. That's the thing I want to make clear. At the time, I had been away from the team for about a month. I was still just so depressed and angry, and the days were so long. I was just looking for anything to take my mind off of things and make the day go faster.»

Ridley said he lost his joy for football and what started his journey to that point was playing through a foot injury for the entire 2020 season, when he caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards. Ridley said he was told he had a bone bruise and took pain-killing injections to play and then found out his had a broken bone in his foot when he saw a specialist two months before the 2021 season was to begin.

Ridley said he got surgery and rushed to training camp but felt mentally drained. He still needed painkillers to play and was unable to spend quality time with his daughter because he couldn't do anything by lie down in a dark room.

That's when his anxiety cranked up, Ridley wrote, and it got worse when he returned home following the Falcons' season opener to learn burglars had broken into his house. Security footage showed five or six armed men in the house and that scared him and traumatized his