Shannon Eastin World Series of Poker Past: NFL Officials Prohibited From Gambling
The National Football League apparently has a zero tolerance policy as it relates to officials gambling.
Shannon Eastin is to become the first female to officiate an NFL game Thursday night when the Packers meet the Chargers for the start of preseason play. Eastin will serve as a replacement official.
This doesn’t bode well for some locked out officials who are planning on bringing Eastin’s poker playing past to the forefront.
Eastin participated in the 2007 World Series of Poker where she finished 17th and cashed out more than $20,000 after going one-on-one with WSOP bracelet record holder Phil Hellmuth.
Mike Florio of NBC Sports first broke the story Wednesday night and breaks down the NFL policy:
The prohibition against gambling appears in the expired Collective Bargaining Agreement, which the league has confirmed applies to the replacement officials.
“Gambling is an unacceptable activity for Game Officials in the National Football League,” the policy states. “Such activity constitutes conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public trust in, the NFL. Because it is the responsibility of the Game Officials to ensure the fairness of NFL play, including the complete confidence of the fans in the legitimacy of the game, it is critical that NFL Game Officials maintain the appearance of the highest ethical conduct.”
As a result, officials are prohibited during the season (from the preseason through the Pro Bowl) to “enter a horse or dog race track or a gambling casino, or bet on any game, or any other sporting event.” Officials also are required to report to the league within 24 hours any entry into a horse or dog race track or casino during the offseason. Throughout the year, officials may not associate with gamblers.
Whether it becomes an issue that Eastin is documented as having gambled five years ago remains to be seen. What is known is that some of the locked out officials plan to make it an issue, however.
Needless-to-say, readers of the Florio piece responded with outrage (as witnessed below).
thecanadiantraveler says: Aug 8, 2012 11:04 PM
Where in this does it say there is anything wrong with a) playing poker or b) having gambled 5 years ago in WSOP… if they are forbidden during the season, that is one thing, but it seems from what is posted above anything done in the past is fair game?
yssupasigninnamnotyep says: Aug 8, 2012 11:19 PM
She was NOT an NFL referee at the time of her poker playing days, so this should obviously not apply.
Please just give up on this subject already and concentrate on real football stories.
blacknole08says: Aug 8, 2012 11:37 PM
Playing poker in a casino is gambling.. playing poker in a tournament with a cash prize for first place is not. She competed in a legal tournament so I don’t see what the real issue is here, other than bitter refs trying to find a loophole and have the nfl cave to their demands
truthfactory says: Aug 9, 2012 12:21 AM
The former refs are trying so hard to muster up any uproar they can about the replacement officials but it backfires at every turn.
Why publicly point out their errors during a pre-season game when they’ve never tried embarassing their own refs like that over the last 10 years? There have been several terribly called games for them to pick from, but they just sat quietly through them without any public complaints about their own bad performances.
Why try to call out something like a replacement ref participating in a legal game of poker in the past? Are we to believe that NONE of the regular refs ever particpated in any poker, slots, roulette, raffle etc in their life??
It’s just sad… these guys make at a minimum $75,000 a year, and up to $100′s of thousands of dollars/ yr to work for at most 30 days of the year. Quit crying about lost pensions… they are a thing of the past for almost all Americans. Accept the ridiculous salaries you earn for what most of us would consider doing for free, or reject the NFL’s offer and move on with the rest of your lifes. The constant attempts at undermining the replacement refs is getting to be comical.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
