When Broncos defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike was hit with an indefinite gambling suspension last month, the NFL didn't really offer any details about what kind of bets he was making that led to his suspension. However, the Iowa Department of Public Safety released that information this week following a lengthy investigation that has led to a criminal charge against seven athletes, including Uwazurike.
According to the criminal complaint, which was obtained by The Athletic, the defensive end made a total of 32 bets on the Broncos over a period of five games in 2022, including one game that he actually played in. Uwazurike was part of the gambling probe because the former Iowa State star is also accused of making two bets on the Cyclones during his time at the school.
On the Broncos' end, Uwazurike placed bets on the first three games of the 2022 season. After that, he took two months off before placing bets on two December games, which came in Week 14 against the Chiefs and Week 15 against the Cardinals, according to the Denver Post.
According to the complaint, Uwazurike made a total of 801 bets worth roughly $21,000 from his FanDuel account. As part of the investigation, Uwazurike now faces one charge of tampering with records for "knowingly and intentionally falsify(ing) personal electronic sports wagering records by concealing his personal identity in said records with the intent to deceive or conceal a wrongdoing knowing he had no privilege or right to do so."
Even though he was using his own phone, Uwazurike used someone else's name to make the bets. Under Iowa law, tampering with records is an aggravated misdemeanor that's punishable by up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of $8,540. Uwazurike's first court date is scheduled for Aug. 16.
The 25-year-old is one of seven athletes from Iowa who is now facing that charge. (You can check out more details on the other six here.)
Uwazurike, who was suspended indefinitely by the NFL on July 24, isn't allowed to apply for reinstatement until July 2024, and even when that happens, there's no guarantee the NFL will reinstate him.
For the Broncos, the punishment to Uwazurike means the Russell Wilson trade has slowly gone from bad to worse. When the Denver acquired Wilson in March 2022, they also received the 116th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and that pick turned out to be Uwazurike.
Although the NFL came down hard on Uwazurike, Sean Payton might be more forgiving. The Broncos coach ripped the NFL last month for creating a confusing gambling policy.
"When you have a bunch of players getting D's, you have to start looking at the message," Payton told USA TODAY. "And we've had a lot of D's in our league this year with this policy."
That being said, when it comes to the NFL, Uwazurike got suspended because he broke the one rule that you simply can't break: Don't bet on NFL games.
