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PHILADELPHIA – The iceberg appeared on the horizon last year when receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for an entire season after getting caught gambling on NFL games, including on his own team at the time, the Atlanta Falcons, in 2021.

Immediately, the NFL sent a memo to all teams to make sure they educate their players on what is permitted and what is not when comes to gambling.

So far, the iceberg appears to run deeper and there’s more than just the tip that tripped up Ridley.

Since then, six players and one coach have been suspended for breaking the policy for gambling, including five this offseason. Five Detroit Lions assistants were reportedly fired for gambling as well.

The most prominent suspension was that of Lions receiver Jameson Williams, who was shut down for six games.

None have been Philadelphia Eagles.

“We just have to make sure we are being smart on sports betting,” said Eagles running back Kenny Gainwell. “Make sure you don’t do sports betting at all. If you do it, don’t do it here at the facility. 

“Don’t do it anywhere. Don’t bet on any NFL games. Just know that. That’s the rule. So we’re just enforcing that rule very strongly.”

It’s all about education and discussing the policy for coach Nick Sirianni.

“Even in the season, we devote a day, a meeting a week to talk about any issues that popped up,” he said. “It’s just their accountability piece. That doesn’t mean you don’t go through some of these issues or anything like that, but you go over it, and you talk about what’s happened and how we can avoid that and the resources that we have to avoid that.

“That’s if somebody gets in trouble or whatever throughout the year. You do the same thing with a situation like this because it’s real, and you just try to educate. You try to tell them what the rules are. You try to tell them the resources we have. There are just so many things available to us.”

Williams drew the interest of the Eagles in last year’s draft, but the Lions moved up 20 spots to take him 12th overall. 

Ridley was also on the Eagles’ radar via trade before he was hit with his 2022-season-long ban, though he was reinstated this past offseason and is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The NFL allows its players to bet on sports other than football, and their own team is very much off-limits, and no betting is permitted on a team’s premises.

It may seem like an easy policy to abide by, but it is very easy to place a bet, with about two swipes on a cell phone basically all it takes.

“I try to stay off it,” said Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson. “I never had any gambling on my phone. I’ve been to a casino maybe once or twice. I just think that being away from that stuff, in general, is a good idea. 

“I think the league made it clear now what the rules are … I think players know now that it’s a no-fly zone.”

Whether that’s true or not, only time will tell.

Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI’s EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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