A Denver Broncos player was suspended for betting on NFL games:

Broncos second-year defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended indefinitely by the NFL on Tuesday for violating the league’s gambling policy, the league said in a statement.

The NFL said Uwazurike, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft, bet on NFL games during his rookie season.

“We were informed by the NFL today that Eyioma Uwazurike has been suspended by the league indefinitely for violating its gambling policy,” the Broncos said in a statement. “Our organization fully cooperated with this investigation and takes matters pertaining to the integrity of the game very seriously. The Denver Broncos will continue to provide all members of our organization with the necessary education, resources and support to ensure compliance with the NFL’s Gambling Policy.” – Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, July 24, 2023

What bothers me about how this is being handled is the emphasis on “policy:” The article continues:

First-year Broncos coach Sean Payton said they used time during the offseason program to educate players on the league’s gambling policies. By that time, of course, violations from the 2022 season would have already been months in the past.

“We’re professional teachers. The packet we received, we looked at, studied it closely and then we presented it in our own PowerPoint,” he said. “I probably had 20 minutes on it to really make sure everyone has it. If you’re a teacher and half your class gets a ‘D,’ you better look at yourself. It’s not the policy, but it’s the implementation, the understanding, and the educating of the policy.”

The “policy” emphasis takes me back to my days as an instructor in an Air Force leadership school. We were told every class something like: “Be sure to tell the guys about the penalties for driving while intoxicated (DWI). Tell them they could be fined $1,000. Remind them of Air Force policy that a DWI will hurt their career, etc., etc.” I smiled and nodded, but when I was with each new class I said something like:

I’m supposed to tell you not to drink and drive because you could be fined $1,000 and mess up your Air Force career. I’m not going to tell you any such thing. I don’t care about your $1,000 fine, and I don’t care about your career. What I care about is that if you’re out there driving drunk, you could kill someone, and it could be me or one of my kids.

I’m wondering why the NFL can’t teach these young players who have more money than good sense something like:

Guys, you’re making a lot of money playing an inherently dangerous sport. Your career could be over tomorrow. You need to live simply and not waste your money, especially on gambling. Then maybe you won’t join the long list of professional athletes who made a lot of money and died broke.

It’s not “policy,” which feels arbitrary. It’s real life.

See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. (Deuteronomy 30.15 – 18, ESV)

They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 32.47, NIV)