The Las Vegas Raiders are located in a city that provides the highest of highs but can also provide the lowest of lows.
Several players from the National Football League have recently gotten into trouble with gambling issues. With the league’s connections to sportsbooks and casinos across the country booming, sports gambling and gambling in sports by athletes has become a hot topic.
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby has cautioned his peers to proceed with caution and use the resources available to them.
“I think it’s just about being aware and educated on exactly what the rules are and what you can and can’t do. Gambling is going be around, it ain’t going nowhere. It’s not going anywhere. It’s not like you’re going to ban all gambling and all these things because of the money it generates. But at the same time, as an athlete and a professional, you have to know what the rules are. There’s certain things you can do and certain things you can’t do. That’s on you as a professional,” Crosby said on Jim Gray’s Let’s Go! podcast.
“And if you have questions, you have the NFLPA, you got front office, there’s people and resources around to know what you can and can’t do. So it truly just comes down to that and being smart and not risking everything for a little quick money.”
Crosby and most athletes make millions of dollars throughout the course of their careers, which makes it hard to understand how gambling debts become an issue. However, like most addictions, gambling addictions can be hard to explain or predict.
While the Raiders‘ defensive end does not understand how some players are willing to risk it all to gamble, Crosby understands how addiction works.
“It’s not like we’re in a position where guys are gambling for future and generational wealth. The generational wealth comes from what you do on the field and what you do as an athlete. Risking that by cheating games or whatever it may entail, or guys trying to challenge the integrity of the game, I think is crazy to me,” Crosby said.
“People say addiction is a disease, and I truly can relate to that because, of course, I knew what I was doing and what I was doing was wrong. And when I was drinking, I was out of control. But I still went back to it because my wiring is that way. And also my upbringing and what I went through and the demons that I, that was my way of expressing myself and getting away from my reality. To the outside, we call it like normies, like people who don’t have addiction problems, they’re like, ‘What is wrong with this person? Why would they do that? If you have a drinking problem, stop drinking.’ It’s not that simple.”
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