Arizona Cardinals defensive back Josh Shaw, suspended last week through at least the 2020 season for allegedly betting on NFL games, was caught by placing a bet that included a Cardinals game, ESPN reported Monday citing multiple sources.
What’s more, according to the report, Shaw placed what was in essence a bet against his team.
Shaw, who signed with the Cardinals in March but has yet to play with them after going on injured reserve with a shoulder injury in August, placed a three-team parlay bet at a Caesars sportsbook in Las Vegas on Nov. 10, ESPN reported.
The parlay was on the second halves of three Week 10 games, and one of the bets was that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would outscore the Cardinals by at least one point in the second half, the report continued.
The Buccaneers led 17-13 at halftime, but were outscored 14-13 in the second half — winning the game but making the second-half cover a loser.
At the time the NFL suspended Shaw last Friday, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement:
“The continued success of the NFL depends directly on each of us doing everything necessary to safeguard the integrity of the game and the reputations of all who participate in the league. At the core of this responsibility is the longstanding principle that betting on NFL games, or on any element of a game, puts at risk the integrity of the game, damages public confidence in the NFL, and is forbidden under all circumstances. If you work in the NFL in any capacity, you may not bet on NFL football.”
No evidence was found that indicated Shaw used inside information or “that any game was compromised in any way,” the NFL stated Friday, adding, “Nor was there evidence suggesting any awareness by teammates, coaches or other players of his betting activity.”
There was no indication at the time of Shaw’s suspension that he bet on Cardinals games.
Shaw, a 2015 fourth-round draft choice of Cincinnati out of Southern California, played three seasons with the Bengals before joining the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018. He has one interception in 55 career games (14 starts).
The 27-year-old can seek reinstatement to the NFL on Feb. 15, 2021.
Shaw also was suspended during his senior season at USC for lying about an injury to his two ankles. He initially told the team he got hurt jumping from the second floor of an apartment building to save his 7-year-old nephew who appeared to be drowning. It was later disclosed he made the leap to evade the police after an argument with his girlfriend. No domestic violence charges were filed.
The most recent case involving betting on games by an NFL player was Baltimore Colts quarterback Art Schlichter, who was suspended in 1983, then reinstated the next year before admitting he continued gambling during his suspension.
The most well-known suspension for sports-related betting in the United States in the last half-century came in 1989, when baseball legend Pete Rose accepted a lifetime ban for allegedly betting on MLB games. One of the central arguments then-commissioner Bart Giamatti made at the time in favor of the ban was the conclusion by an investigator that Rose bet on his team — the Cincinnati Reds — while managing them.
Though Rose denied the allegation for more than a decade, he admitted in 2007 that he did bet on the Reds to win while managing the club.
