Wide receiver Calvin Ridley of the Jacksonville Jaguars has missed all of 2022. Not due to injury, but because he illegally bet on NFL games. Now the receiver is back after suspension and mental timeout and talks about “the dumbest mistake of his life. “

When a player misses more than an entire season in the NFL, it’s usually due to injury.

Not in the case of Calvin Ridley, however. Physically, the wide receiver is fine. Problems he had were mental, which is why he retired from the NFL in 2021.

Later it became known that in his mental instability he had gone into the world of sports betting and bet on his now ex-team, the Atlanta Falcons. Illegally, of course, as an active athlete.

After a year suspension and a trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Ridley is now back – and talking for the first time about his past year and a half of mental issues.

Ridley open: “Lost the joy of football “

Written in the Player’s Tribune, “I messed up. Full stop. I just made a stupid mistake in a dark moment. I never meant to cheat or anything like that,” Ridley said.

The wide receiver did not fly to London with his Falcons in 2021 for reasons that are still unknown. Not long after, it was announced that he was retiring from the NFL for the time being due to mental issues. “The days were long and I was looking for a distraction,” he explained his actions.

2020 he continued to play despite a broken foot, in the offseason he approached his rehab too quickly to get back on the field as soon as possible. “That’s when I first lost the joy of football,” the pass receiver explained.

Multiple setbacks triggered therapy

While mourning lost time with his young daughter and continuing to play while on painkillers, half a dozen men also broke into his home and threatened his wife. “I went to the Falcons and told them I needed help.” Ridley went into therapy.

There he also bet on NFL and NBA games. “When people ask me what I was thinking, I just say, ‘Not at all.’ You don’t think in depression. You just try to get through the days,” the 28-year-old explained.

Now, however, Ridley says he is mentally stronger than ever – and wants to attack athletically with the Jaguars. To do that, he’s also setting big goals for himself: “With Trevor Lawrence? 1,400 yards. Full stop.”

In April, at the start of the Mini Camps, he will officially join his team for the first time.