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Amon-Ra St. Brown Hilariously Explains ‘Bet’ to Avoid Getting in Trouble With NFL

Also in Traina Thoughts: Bill Simmons interview; Christian Kirk has the NFL Celebration of the Year; Alex Rodriguez is clueless; and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. During the offseason, four Lions players—Quintez Cephus, C.J. Moore, Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams—received suspensions from the NFL for violating its gambling policy.

Cephus and Moore was busted for betting on NFL games in the 2022 season, while Berryhill and Williams were suspended for betting from an NFL facility on non-NFL games.

I tell you all this because Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who went to USC, and teammate Julian Okwara, who went to Notre Dame, made a friendly wager on last week’s Trojans–Fighting Irish game.

With Notre Dame cruising to an easy victory over always overrated USC, St. Brown was forced to dress up as the Irish mascot at the team's facility Thursday.

However, St. Brown did not want to feel the wrath of Roger Goodell and the NFL, so he was very careful when he explained why he was in the costume.

“So, we don’t do bets in this facility,” St. Brown told reporters in the locker room. “We made an agreement. It was made outside this facility. I called J.O. FaceTimed him.”

St. Brown added, “We made an agreement OUTSIDE the facility,” and even pointed toward outside to emphasize his point and avoid trouble.

Not only does St. Brown deserve credit for being a great teammate and making sure he stays on the field for the Lions despite making a wager, but he also deserves credit for pointing out how absurd the NFL’s gambling policy is. 

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2. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with the founder and CEO of The Ringer, Bill Simmons.

Topics discussed include why Simmons doesn’t do a lot of interviews, the state of sports media, what makes someone a good podcaster, how he preps for a podcast, how he remembers his time at ESPN, whether he regrets calling Roger Goodell a “liar,” getting suspended from Twitter, his issue with how people aggregate his podcast and the ESPN NBA Countdown vs. TNT’s Inside the NBA battle.

Other topics covered include the NBA and MLB broadcaster problem, the way gambling has taken over everything in sports, his upcoming Vince McMahon Netflix documentary and much, much more.

Following Simmons, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, Jimmy and Sal discuss Twitter charging $1 a year to use the service, the reaction to the viral Chargers fan from Monday Night Football, whether the Buccaneers’ creamsicle uniforms are the best in sports and upcoming NFL schedule items. Plus, we answer listener questions.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

3. Christian Kirk, take a bow. Nothing but props for the Jaguars receiver who scored a touchdown Thursday night on the Amazon Prime game and then busted out the Amazon Delivery Celebration.

4. Alex Rodriguez laughably wants the Yankees to retire his number. Alex, most Yankees fans don't like you. You once took a shot at Derek Jeter in an article. The GM once had to tell you to “shut the f--- up,” and you lied about doing PEDs and then got suspended for a year. Get a clue.

5. As I discussed with Bill Simmons on the podcast this week, I think Tom Brady will join Fox next year as its lead NFL analyst and I think he will be great. He just needs to make sure he bring his social media energy, on full display yesterday, to the broadcast booth. 

6. This was a hell of a way for Marshall to distract James Madison’s kicker during their game Thursday.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 70th birthday to MVP star, Mets broadcaster and Seinfeld legend Keith Hernandez.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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