Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams spoke with the media on Thursday regarding his six-game gambling suspension.
The Detroit Lions entered this offseason with high hopes after narrowly missing out on a playoff spot. Now, they are favorites to win the NFC North.
However, the Lions and the NFL world received word that multiple players were suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy. Wide receiver and 2022 first-round pick Jameson Williams was one of them and will miss the tea’s first six games of the season.
With the Lions beginning organized team activities (OTAs) this week, reporters gathered around Williams to ask about his suspension after Thursday’s practice. As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press points out, the wide receiver answered all questions regarding his suspension and didn’t cut his session short.
Jameson Williams speaks on six-game gambling suspension
As Birkett mentions in his tweet, Williams said that he was “sick” when he learned that he was being suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy and claimed that he “wasn’t aware” of the gambling policy.
“It hit me out of the blue, and it hit a couple other players around the league and on my team out of the blue,” Williams said, h/t the Detroit Free Press. “I wasn’t aware of this situation, but as it happened, like I said, I took it on the chin, I was ready to move forward as things moved on and I got the consequences, so that’s been my whole plan moving forward from things and just looking at the better days.”
The wide receiver isn’t appealing the suspension, saying that he wanted to move forward. Williams told reporters, “I’m not a gambler, I’m a football player.”
Williams and fellow wide receiver Stanley Berryhill were suspended six games for betting at the team’s facility on non-NFL games, while safety C.J. Moore and wideout Quintez Cephus were suspended indefinitely for gambling on NFL games. Berryhill, Moore, and Cephus were all waived by the team.
The Lions traded up for Williams in the first round of the NFL Draft to select Williams, who made a name for himself at Alabama for his speed. But in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Williams suffered a torn ACL, which meant he wouldn’t be ready for the start of his rookie season.
Williams made his debut with the team in Week 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The following week against the Minnesota Vikings, he recorded his first career touchdown on his first career catch. That would be his only catch of the season on nine targets.
The second-year wideout will be able to train this offseason and participate in the preseason, but he will have to serve his suspension once the regular season begins. He will be able to make his season debut in Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens (Oct. 22).