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This looks shady as hell. How does Calvin Ridley get suspended for a season for a parlay bet while professional gambler Warren Sharp is getting paid by the Eagles? And, of course, Banner's got his sticky little fingers in it.
https://www.newyorker.com/sports/spo...s-into-the-nfl
The retired N.F.L. executive Joe Banner, who served as the C.E.O. of the Cleveland Browns and as the president of the Philadelphia Eagles, partnered with Sharp, taking a small fee in exchange for introducing him to front-office contacts and helping him to negotiate consulting deals. Sharp was soon advising at least two N.F.L. teams about strategy... He would not identify those franchises, but two N.F.L. insiders, who asked to remain anonymous, said that they include the Eagles. The Eagles declined to comment.
Sharp’s multiple revenue streams—gambling, talking about gambling, advising other gamblers, and consulting for N.F.L. teams—all bring their own rewards. Sharp has a young son, and he told me the story of watching an N.F.L. game with him on TV, last winter. As one team approached the opponent’s goal line, he told his son to keep an eye on a rarely targeted tight end, who, on the very next play, caught an improbable touchdown. “I’m embarrassed to say I jumped up and started swinging my jacket in the air,” he told me. “I was so happy.” Days before, Sharp had sent the team’s offensive play-caller a weekly memo with strategy suggestions, including that pass. I phoned the coach to ask about the play. He chuckled, perhaps hesitant to disclose a secret weapon, before confirming that he had, indeed, run a Sharp special. “We talk at least once a week,” the coach said. “I have a lot of respect for Warren. I like surrounding myself with intelligent people. Football is a thinking man’s game, too.”