Detroit Lions’ Jameson Williams Takes Responsibility After NFL Suspension

In April 2023, the NFL announced the suspension of Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions wide receiver and three other players and staff of the team. These suspensions came as a result of breaches of the NFL gambling rules, including betting on matches within a team facility. The three other players have since been released by the Detroit Lions.

However, Williams, who is serving a six-game suspension for wagering on matches within a team facility, was seen recently joining the Lions for an OTA session. During this period, he spoke to reporters about his recent experience with the NFL rules.

Despite the six-game ban, Williams will be allowed by the NFL to join the OTAs, team training camp and preseason. Only the first six games of the season will go on without his involvement.

After an OTA session, he voluntarily walked up to reporters to answer questions about his game.

“I broke the policy. Like I said, it is what it is. I’m just happy to be out here, get this time with my guys. I didn’t get a chance to do this last year. I’m happy I get a chance to do that,” Williams told journalists.

When asked if he was aware that gambling on facilities violated the league’s policy, he insisted that he did not know about the rules. Generally, it is expected that teams educate their players about the NFL anti-gambling policy. However, Quintez Cephus, CJ Moore and Stanley Berryhill were other Detroit Lions players that were suspended for gambling activities. This, according to many, is some proof that the team had not been keeping its staff aware of the NFL rules.

“No, sir,” Williams responded to questions about his awareness of the policy.

In addition, he refused to give any further details about what he gambled on. Nevertheless, he seemed pretty certain about not knowing that he violated any rules.

When asked about how often he gambled or what sports betting sites he used, Williams said:

“No frequent gambling. I’m not a gambler. I’m a football player.”

Similarly, he claimed not to remember whether he bet on football, basketball or other sports.

“I’m not sure,” Williams said. “That was a while ago.”

Commenting about his plans during the period of the ban, he expressed hope and optimism about the trajectory of his career.

“I was sick,” he said. “I was hurt because I ain’t knew things like this was coming. Like I said, took me some time and just thought about the better days moving forward. It’s not my last day living, so I just look forward to the better days, the next day, getting better, get out here with my team, run some routes. You all see me running routes. Last year, you all saw me walking around with a football in my hands. It’s good to be out here,” Williams said.

With the ban set to start at the beginning of the season, Williams will now have missed 70% of the first games of his career.

Due to Williams absence, the Lions will now rely heavily on their draft picks for the first games of the upcoming season. Amon-Ra St. Brown is the most trusted to fill in the void left by Williams. Brown caught 196 passes through his first two seasons with the Lions. The Lions will hope to build their defence around him for the most part of the season.

At DraftKings Sportsbook MI, St. Brown has odds of +300 to get over 175 receiving years in a game. He also has +2500 odds to top the NFL table of receiving yards. Alongside Goff, St. Brown is also expected to deliver touchdowns and improve the Lions’ passing range. FanDuel Sportsbook MI puts St. Brown’s odds of clinching 10+ receiving touchdowns at +125 while Goff has +100 odds for 30 or more touchdown passes.

After the first round of Organized Team Activities took place in the last week of May, the gameplay of draft picks has been closely watched.

Running back Jahmyr Gibbs is one of the most promising draft picks with high expectations. It is hoped that Gibbs can split in between teams and play an Alvin Kamara-style in the backfield.

Hopes are also high for Sam LaPorta to fill in the void created by absence of suspended players. The tight end showed great pass-catching abilities during OTA sessions and has great physicality that’s hard to find with rookies.

Other members of the draft class that may attract attention over the coming weeks include Brodric Martin, Brian Branch, Hendon Hooker and Jack Campbell who was selected in the first round.