Graham Gano has gotten regular death threats since sports betting began
Graham Gano joined the NFL in 2009. Since 2018, when sports betting became legal beyond Nevada, he has noticed a change.
"I hear everyone else's frustration -- media, fans. Shoot, ever since sports betting started happening, I get people telling me to kill myself every week," Gano said Thursday, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. "'Cause I'll hit a kick that loses them money. I'll miss a kick and it loses them money. It was the other day that someone told me to get cancer and die. I mean, that stuff is part of it."
Gano has missed time with multiple injuries this season. He's likely to not kick on Sunday due to a neck issue. He hasn't practiced this week, and the team is preparing Younghoe Koo to kick at Chicago.
"Just playing this long, you're used to it by now," Gano said. "But with that being said, I see everyone's frustration. And I'm frustrated too. I just want to play ball. Just constantly not being able to is tough. Doing everything I can to try to come back and play. That is my hope."
Despite his hope, it's safe to say nothing will change. In this age of legalized, normalized, and heavily monetized sports wagering, the players have become the cubes on the craps table, the steel ball on the roulette wheel.
"Nobody wants to hear that stuff," Gano said. "I think everyone in the locker room knows if you have something going on to talk to somebody about it. I hope that everybody in here would. Nobody wants to hear stuff like that. I just want to make the fans happy, help the team win games and so not being able to do that is hard."
The fans don't care. They want their bets to cash. It's not about the game. It's about winning the wager.
And the NFL has made its bet. It's chasing the money, too. Which only makes it harder for the men who play the game.