Calvin Ridley is preparing to enter his seventh NFL season, but at one point, it looked bleak that the Tennessee Titans wide receiver would ever return to the field.
In 2021, entering his fourth season with the Atlanta Falcons — the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2018 draft — Ridley was expected to take a big leap. Instead, after just five games, he announced he was stepping away to focus on his mental health.
Ridley wouldn’t return until 2023, missing an entire year after being suspended for betting on games. The suspension also cost him his $11.1 million base salary for that season.
“The suspension gave me time to rest, get physically better, and mentally stronger,” Ridley told ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “After that year, I was ready to come back.”
The gambling incident began while Ridley was away from the game and visiting family in Florida. Watching his younger brothers, Riley and Clayton, place bets through an app, Ridley decided to join in. He wagered on college football games and placed two NFL bets — one on the Pittsburgh Steelers and one on the Falcons.
“I downloaded the app sitting there not knowing that I was breaking a rule or anything,” Ridley said. “Those were the only two NFL games I bet.”
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The Falcons traded Ridley to the Jacksonville Jaguars in November 2022 for conditional draft picks. After one season in Jacksonville, the Titans signed him to a four-year, $92 million deal last offseason.
“I learned a lot of tools during that process,” Ridley said of his years away. “I still use those things today when it gets hard. I don’t let myself go too far down. I’ll flush out the bad thoughts, refresh my mind every time I go home.”
Ridley responded last season with the third 1,000-yard campaign of his career, even as Tennessee stumbled to a 3-14 finish. Now he’s looking to be a key piece in helping No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward guide the Titans back to contention.
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