Sean Payton is fed up with the NFL’s gambling policies.
The Denver Broncos coach tore into the league’s explanation of the gambling rules, claiming the provided material was too complicated.
To make the boundaries loud and clear for his players, Payton compared the gambling policy to the NFL’s gun rules.
“You can’t bet on NFL football, ever, ever, ever,” Payton said, according to USA Today.
“I don’t give a (expletive) what it is. The other thing is, it’s the same as the gun policy. You can’t bet on nothing if you’re at your facility, your hotel, your airplane. So, wherever you can’t carry a gun, you can’t place a bet.”
On Monday, Broncos’ second-year defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games last season.
Uwazurike, 25, is the latest culprit in the league’s recent crackdown.
The NFL indefinitely suspended free agent Demetrius Taylor and the Colts’ Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry in June –– all three players placed bets on NFL games during the 2022 season.
Nicholas Petit-Frere, offensive tackle for the Titans, was also suspended, but for six games, after betting on non-NFL games from the team facility.
Uwazurike, the 10th NFL player to be suspended for gambling activity since April, is unable to return to Denver for at least a year.
“Shame on us,” Payton said.
The Broncos’ first-year coach was reportedly frustrated with the league’s handling of the gambling policies before Uwazurike got dealt his punishment.
According to USA Today, Payton “essentially tore up material about the policy that the league sent to the team during the spring” and told the team’s vice president of football operations and compliance, Mark Thewes, to put together a clearer, simpler version to be handed out.
In June, the NFL announced it is reinforcing its gambling rules and making it a requirement for rookies to attend education sessions of the league’s gambling policies.
NFL officials will be visiting teams to emphasize and clarify the rules.
Players are given these official guidelines to follow: Don’t bet on the NFL, don’t gamble at your team facility or while traveling with the team, don’t have someone bet for you, don’t share “inside information,” don’t enter a sportsbook during the playing season and don’t participate in daily fantasy football.
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