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Despite all the recent talk of the NFL focusing on its education program as it pertains to sports gambling, multiple agents are claiming they've not be they have yet to receive an invitation to participate.
The league forwarded to Pro Football Talk a document claiming that player agents “have the opportunity to participate in Gambling Policy education training led by NFL Compliance officials.”
Three prominent agents tell PFT they have never been invited to participate in training of any kind regarding the gambling policy. Not once. Not ever.
“How do we have the opportunity?” the agent responded. “Just show up at the Eagles facility and say let us in?”
Another agent claims that the first receipt of the document did not come from the league but instead came when the NFL Players Association sent an email to all agents following the five player suspensions announced on the same day in April 2023.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk highlights the problem here:
This wrinkle illustrates a concern that some have regarding the league’s past, and present, educational efforts regarding the gambling policy. Like so many workplace rules, the employer’s motivation can be less about ensuring that the player fully understands the rule and more about harvesting an acknowledgement that the player has been given the document.
In many cases, it’s the latter. In many cases, the employer just wants to be able to say, “They’ve acknowledged receipt of the policy.”
As to the gambling policy, is the league really trying to ensure that the players truly understand the requirements of the rule? Or is the league trying to preserve the ability to say, “Don’t blame us; they have the policy; they signed the paperwork acknowledging receipt of it”?
- Frank Doyle, Gambling911.com
