In 1947, the NFL launched the injury report as a way to fight illegal gambling. This week, the NBA’s fresh gambling scandal arising from manipulated legal prop bets makes the NFL’s injury report more important than ever.
And, of course, a major problem arose on the day after the prop hit the fan for pro basketball.
To summarize, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson practiced on Friday, despite his lingering hamstring injury. He took a full slate of reps with the scout team. He did not take any reps with the first-team offense. The Ravens listed him as fully participating in practice. Under the language of the NFL’s “Personnel (Injury) Report Policy,” it’s clear that the Ravens applied the incorrect label to Jackson for Friday’s practice. He should have been listed as “limited.”
The NFL is reviewing the situation. And the policy, a copy of which PFT has obtained, contains specific information about the potential penalties the Ravens may face. The Commissioner, under the policy, “may deprive the offending club of a selection choice or choice, and/or may fine the offending club and/or may fine or suspend with or without pay any involved individuals as appropriate.”
In reaching a decision as to discipline, the Commissioner is required to consider “all relevant facts and circumstances, including the nature and materiality of the violation, the prior record of the party committing the violation, prior treatment of similar violations, the extent to which the club and relevant individuals cooperated with the investigation, the actual competitive impact of the violation if ascertainable, and the extent to which public confidence in the NFL, its teams, owners and team personnel has been or may be affected.”
That last factor becomes extremely important, given the timing. It all happened one day after the NBA’s latest gambling scandal became the biggest story in American sports. It was the worst possible time for any team to apply an inaccurate designation to the practice participation of its starting quarterback, accidentally or otherwise.
It’s pretty simple. The use of “full” created the impression that Jackson was ready to play. The truth — that he took no first-team reps — paints a very different picture. The fact that he was ruled out on Saturday makes it all look even worse.
And it could get even worse for the Ravens. The policy contemplates the possibility that it wasn’t an accident or a clerical error. The league’s investigation will include an exploration of whether the “club or any involved person deliberately set out to violate the Injury Report Policy or made a calculated decision to risk the possible penalties for such violation as an acceptable cost of attempting to gain an unfair competitive advantage (i.e., as a ‘cost of doing business’).” If such behavior is established by a preponderance of the evidence (“more likely than not”), the Ravens and specific individuals involved will be subject to additional penalties.
So either it was all a big mistake by the Ravens (which would still be a violation of the policy) or it was a deliberate effort by the Ravens to create the impression that Lamar Jackson would be starting on Sunday, in order to dupe the Bears into preparing for him and not for Tyler Huntley. If it’s the latter, the outcome for the Ravens could be not good.
Hovering over all of this is the potential gambling angle. Obviously, any evidence that anyone who knew the truth about Lamar’s status utilized the misdirection for gambling purposes would open another can of worms — including (based on the policy) potential termination of employment and lifetime banishment from the league.
There’s currently no evidence that the mischaracterization of Jackson’s status has any connection to gambling. Given the overall environment, and based on the terms of the policy, the NFL has no choice but to investigate that wrinkle.
Two years ago, the failure of the Falcons to update the injury report to reflect that running back Bijan Robinson was ill led only to punishments for the violation of the policy, with no mention of whether the gambling/inside information aspect was even explored. Now, it’s impossible to separate the two — even if the league may be tempted to not expose to the world that it has a Terry Rozier-style scandal of its own.
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