© Hakim Wright Sr. Tom Brady took part in an NFL video designed to educate players about the league’s anti-gambling rules. Brady’s message: “It’s just not worth it.”

With sports gambling now legal in 21 states and the NFL eagerly embracing partnerships with betting companies, players are increasingly running afoul of the league’s anti-gambling policies.

But staying on the good side of the rules shouldn’t be difficult. The players just need to follow a simple maxim: Do what Tom Brady says.

The retired quarterback joined forces with the NFL office this year to participate in the league’s anti-gambling educational video that is being shown to all 32 teams during organized team activities, as first reported by Denver’s 9News and confirmed by a source in the NFL league office.

In the video, which is part of the league’s mandatory educational effort on the gambling policy, Brady delivers an impassioned plea to players to not succumb to the temptation of betting on NFL games or providing inside information.

“He says, ‘It’s just not worth it. You worked too hard to get to the league, only to have one bad decision ruin the opportunity,’ ” per the source. “He expresses how much he loves football, how the opportunity to play in the NFL was the privilege of a lifetime, and with this privilege comes great responsibility.

“And his point was by placing bets, by participating in bets on NFL games, it hurts the league, it hurts the players’ reputation and the reputation of the team.”

The NFL’s gambling policy isn’t complicated. Players can’t place any sort of bet on NFL competition — on single games, parlays, propositions, etc. They also can’t provide inside information, take bribes, or throw games.

NFL players can bet on other sports, but not within the confines of their team facilities. League and club employees are subject to stricter guidelines, as they are completely prohibited from placing bets on any sport.

Brady taped the video in April, and his appearance is unrelated to the spate of gambling suspensions to hit the league, per the source. But his message seems somewhat prescient.

Last year, then-Atlanta receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season for betting on NFL games. This past April, two Detroit players and one Washington player were suspended for the 2023 season for betting on NFL games, and two additional Detroit players were suspended six games for placing bets on other sports inside their team facility.

Within the last week, Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers acknowledged that he is being investigated by the league for gambling on games, and The Athletic reported another Lions player is also under investigation.

Lions receiver Jameson Williams, one of the players who got a six-game suspension, said he wasn’t aware of the rule about placing bets inside the team facility. The Athletic recently polled a handful of players who also said they didn’t know all of the rules, particularly the one about betting inside team facilities.

Their confusion is a little understandable given the proliferation of gambling around them. Gambling ads have overtaken sports broadcasts and social media. Teams have official partnerships with sportsbooks, and owners such as Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones are investors in DraftKings. In March, NFL owners voted to allow in-stadium sportsbooks to operate on game days, with three already outfitted in Washington’s FedEx Field, New York’s MetLife Stadium, and Arizona’s State Farm Stadium.

Lions coach Dan Campbell expressed dismay that Williams claimed he didn’t know the rules.

“Look, he knows,” Campbell said. “He’s gotten it from everybody. So, look, it happened. It’s an emphasis of the league right now. It’s a big thing, our players know. We’ve tried to hammer it home.”

The Lions probably want to tweak their educational methods, considering they had four players suspended this offseason. But if players don’t know the rules, ultimately that’s on them.

All league personnel — players, coaches, staffers, and league office employees — take the same training every year. They watch a mandatory educational video, and this year’s was intro’d by Brady, but other players have done it in the past, including former safety Josh Shaw, who was suspended for the entire 2020 season for gambling.

Players get a fact sheet with the dos and don’ts of the policy. They sit through a presentation from a representative of the league office. They have to pass a 10-question quiz related to the material, and have to sign and attest that they understand the policy.

Players also have meetings with their own coaches; Bill Belichick stressed the anti-gambling policy in a Patriots team meeting last week. The standard player contract has anti-gambling language. The player manual given to each player in training camp has the gambling policy as well. Plus, the team’s player engagement staff, security directors, and the Players Association are available as resources and constantly providing guidance and warnings to players.

“There are numerous educational opportunities that are given to players,” said the league source. “And again, they have to sign and acknowledge that they understand what the policy is.”

Of course, getting a bunch of 24-year-olds to listen to rules isn’t always an easy task. And given the ease and proliferation of sports gambling, more violations are bound to happen.

All the NFL can do is provide the education, and hope that if the players don’t listen to their coaches or league staffers, they at least will listen to Tom Brady.