Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley has been suspended through at least the 2022 season after betting on football games in 2021, the NFL said Monday.

It was reportedly one of the heaviest penalties a major American sports league has handed out since rushing to embrace the growth of regulated wagering on games.

In a statement released on Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Ridley placed bets on NFL games over a five-day stretch in November 2021 when he was on the non-football injury list to focus on his mental health.

After an investigation, the commissioner said the league found no proof that any inside information was used or compromised any game. Goodell added that there was no evidence that Ridley's betting activity was known by his coaches, staff, teammates, or other players.

However, Goodell said there was nothing more fundamental to the NFL's success and the reputation of everyone associated with the league than upholding the integrity of the game, and Ridley's actions put that integrity at risk, ESPN reported.

Goodell further noted that the 27-year-old wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons threatened to damage public confidence in professional football and potentially undermined the reputations of his fellow players throughout the NFL.

Calvin Ridley of Atlanta Falcons Gambled on NFL Games

Calvin Ridley announced his stepping away from the Atlanta Falcons on October 31, 2021, citing a mental health issue, The New York Times reported.

In a statement posted to his social media accounts, Ridley said that as much as he would like to be on the field competing with my teammates, the past weeks have been very challenging, and he needed to focus on his mental well-being.

The following month - between November 23 and November 28 - Ridley placed three parlay bets on the Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app while in Florida, a source told the New York Post.

The NFL learned of Ridley's betting activity after being alerted by Genius Sports, which monitors sports betting data for the league, that those bets could have been placed by a player.

The league's probe found that Ridley's bets included a wager on the Falcons to win. Soon after the NFL announced the suspension, Ridley wrote on Twitter: "I bet 1500 total I don't have a gambling problem," adding that he could not watch football at the time.

Ridley then posted: "I know I was wrong But I'm getting 1 year lol."

In a statement, the Atlanta Falcons said they "support the league's findings and actions." Ridley's agent, Ben Setas, has yet to comment.

The four-year NFL veteran had his greatest season in 2020 when he caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards.

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Calvin Ridley's Suspension: The First Gambling-Related Penalty After 3 Years

Calvin Ridley has three days to appeal his suspension and can seek to be reinstated on or after February 15, 2023.

Ridley's suspension is the NFL's first sports gambling-related penalty imposed on a player since Josh Shaw of the Arizona Cardinals was suspended for the rest of the season in 2019. Since then, he has not played in the NFL.

After Shaw's suspension, the thick walls that had long separated the NFL from the gambling industry have crumbled.

Despite decades of opposition to sports wagering, the league has negotiated major sponsorship deals with casinos, with Raiders already playing their home games in Las Vegas, and the draft and Super Bowl will also be hosted in Vegas in the coming months.

The NFL hired Genius Sports in April 2021 to provide complete integrity services to monitor betting on all league games, as well as education programs to ensure the NFL's high standard for integrity is maintained.

More than 17,000 NFL employees receive training from the league. Their main message is to not wager on NFL games or share insider information about them.

But with tens of millions of individuals opening online sports betting accounts and players and other NFL staff capable of using other people's accounts to place bets, the league will face a difficult task in keeping track of everyone's activity.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: BREAKING: Calvin Ridley Suspended Indefinitely for Betting on NFL Games | NFL Live - From ESPN