Tennessee Titans' Nicholas Petit-Frere suspended six games amid NFL gambling probe
One month after telling The Tennessean that he thought the NFL's gambling policy for players was unclear and underexplained, Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere has been suspended six games amid the NFL's gambling probe.
A second-year offensive lineman from Ohio State, Petit-Frere started 16 games for the Titans at right tackle in 2022 and is expected to start again in 2023. He joins a long list of players who have been suspended this offseason for gambling, though in a statement to ESPN, Petit-Frere was adamant he has never gambled on the NFL and didn't knowingly violate the league rules.
"The NFL plans to announce another round of sanctions regarding its gambling policies and I will be included in this group of players receiving a six-game suspension," Petit-Frere said in his statement. "The betting I engaged in was NOT NFL related and was legal under Tennessee law. It is only being sanctioned because it occurred at the Titans facility."
"We have been made aware of Nick’s suspension by the league," the Tennessee Titans said in a statement Thursday. "We believe in Nick and know that he has deep respect for the integrity of the game and our organization. We will continue to emphasize to our players the importance of understanding and adhering to league rules and policies.”
Petit-Frere spoke about the league's gambling policy with The Tennessean in May, breaking down exactly what he thought the flaws were in the league's rules.
"There wasn’t really a lot of teaching from the NFL and things like that," he said. "I was actually one of the people who asked one of the most questions when it came to fantasy football and things like that. I just wanted to make sure I learned as much as I could. When we heard about those suspensions and things like that, I’ll be honest, a lot of the guys felt like there just wasn’t a lot of teaching in general about this offense.
"I just feel like that’s something the NFL should kind of harbor a little bit more and understand these guys are making mistakes that they didn’t even know was a thing. Not a lot of people talked about it. I just feel like that’s something the NFL should look into that they should have some credence to when it comes to some of the suspensions that they did. I hope they kind of look at it again and see ‘Hey, this is our first time doing it. I feel like we should’ve taught it more.’ I feel like it should be about the teachings and stuff like that, not more about handing stuff out. Because it kind of seems out of nowhere. "
Petit-Frere was among four players suspended by the league Thursday. Indianapolis Colts players Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry and free agent Demetrius Taylor were suspended indefinitely through at least the conclusion of the 2023 season. Five other players were suspended early in the offseason for violating gambling rules, including four players for the Detroit Lions.
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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nicholas Petit-Frere suspended: Titans OL part of NFL gambling probe
