FLOWERY BRANCH — Former Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley wrote a letter to the football world last week before he resumes his career after he was reinstated for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.
The one-sided account appeared on The Players’ Tribune website. The Falcons, who are not portrayed favorably in the account, declined to comment on allegations that he played on a broken foot and on painkillers.
He admitted that gambling on NFL games was a mistake and then recounted his fall into depression and anxiety that he said was aided by the stress of the NFL and the burglary of his house by members of the “Drug Rich” gang.
After playing in 2020 on a broken foot, he underwent surgery, but remained on painkillers.
He also went into his family’s struggles when he was young that landed him in foster care. He credits his love for football at an early age for giving his life purpose.
Ridley saw a therapist, who helped explain his situation with regard to the stress, depression and anxiety. He said he’s ready to return to the Jaguars and that according to his GPS, he’s running fast.
Playing with Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence, he’s expecting a 1,400-yard season in 2023.
Here are six takeaways from Ridley’s account of his journey:
1. Gambling: Ridley starts off by stating that he “(expletive) his life” by gambling on football. He took that head on.
2. Mental health: He was depressed and battling anxiety. He was in a dark and sunken place. Which led him to leave the team twice during the 2021 season.
3. Playing with a broken foot: He pointed to playing with an broken foot in the 2020 season as the starting point of his downfall.
“It started with my body breaking down. Hardly anybody knows this, but I played most of the 2020 season with a broken foot. Remember that 1,300-yard season? Nine touchdowns? I was killing it on one foot, for real.”
He added that he played through bone spurs his first two seasons with the help of painkillers.
4. The burglary: Ridley was targeted by the “Drug Rich” game, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said at a news conference in August 2022. Television and social media were used to select athletes and celebrities for home invasions and robberies.
A 220-count indictment handed out in August 2022 in Fulton County charged 26 alleged members of the “Drug Rich” gang with plotting and carrying out a string of home invasions and burglaries across the area over the previous year.
The injuries and the burglary were too much, according to his account.
“My wife was traumatized. She couldn’t sleep at night. She couldn’t stand me being out of the house. That’s when I really just started to feel the weight of the world on my chest.”
5. Did the Falcons do enough to help? Ridley said he didn’t want to leave his family and go on the trip to London. That’s when he told the Falcons of his mental-health issues in the 2021 season.
“I don’t want to badmouth anybody from the franchise. I know they got a lot of pressure to win, and they got their own job to do. But I just felt like some people in the building were supportive, and other people were looking at me like, “You good, bro.”
6. Shoutout to Atlanta: Ridley closed out with a shoutout to the ATL.
“I want to make it clear that I don’t have a bad word to say about the Falcons or the city of Atlanta. That’s still my second home, and where my daughter was born. I tried to give y’all everything I had, until the wheels came off. It’s all love, forever.”
