What I'm saying is they were fully aware, or should have been, that gambling in such a way was taken seriously by the league.
If you look at what Ridley bet on, and the amount, you'd see it was also small potatoes that cost him a season.
It sucks your coveted Lions players screwed up, so your biases will reach for excuses and claim injustice, but after a guy gets ejected for a full season the year before, I can't really can't feign any outrage over these kids messing around with gambling and having to sit 6 games. They violated established rules.
If you want different rules in place, that's a different discussion and subsequently up the NFLPA to broker. They negotiated the current rules when they signed the 2020 CBA. For example, that's the reason they are no longer facing discipline for marijuana use. We all agreed that was pointless and so the rules changed. I'd wager gambling will be discussed at the next CBA.
But as it stands, the old adage "f*** around and find out" still applies. And in this instance, I support the NFL being hardasses. Gambling permitted, even as innocuous as this, could undermine the entire integrity of the game. Once public trust is lost, you cannot gain it back easily, if ever.
