Lions' C.J. Moore: 'Being immature' led to gambling suspension, grateful for second chance

C.J. Moore thought he might never get a second chance in the NFL after he was suspended indefinitely for betting on football games. Now that he has one, he wants to make sure none of his young teammates gamble unnecessarily with their futures.

"When I hear anybody talking about it, like I said I will walk away," Moore said Thursday in his first public comments since his suspension last spring. "But if I can help and tell these guys and encourage them don’t even gamble at all, that’s my word to them."

Moore was one of five Detroit Lions players caught in a league-wide gambling probe last April, along with Jameson Williams, Quintez Cephus, Stanley Berryhill and Demetrius Taylor.

Moore, Cephus and Taylor were suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games, while Williams and Berryhill had six-game suspensions that were reduced last September. The Detroit Lions released Moore, Cephus and Berryhill at or shortly after the time of their suspensions, and had moved on from Taylor before his suspension was announced.

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The NFL reinstated Moore and four other players who sat out the 2023 season this spring, and the Lions re-signed Moore to a one-year contract May 7.

Moore declined Thursday to share specifics of how much he bet or how many wagers he placed, but was accountable for the actions that led to his suspension.

"I knew the rules, just like I said, just being immature, just gambling, losing control of being aware of exactly what I was doing," he said. "So just careless mistake."

He dismissed any role that injury played in his gambling habits — he missed the start of the 2022 season with a foot injury — and said the accessibility of online betting was no excuse for not following NFL rules.

"There was times where I mean, it was tough," Moore said. "I didn’t know what (was going to happen to me). It was a lot of uncertainty, but all I could do was just try to put my best foot forward, be a good pro and just try to prepare to come back and I’m just so thankful to be back."

Moore said he stayed busy during his time away from football, when he was not allowed to have contact with teams.

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He got married. He and his wife welcomed their second child. And he spent most of his time training at a gym in New Jersey.

"In spite of all of a negative situation, there was a lot of good that came out of it," he said. "So it was good. It was good."

An undrafted free agent who originally signed with the Lions out of Ole Miss in 2019, Moore was one of the team's best special teams players in 2019-22. He had eight special teams tackles in 2021 and ran for two first downs as a personal protector on fake punts in 2022.

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said Thursday he was thrilled to have Moore back in the fold this fall.

"I’m obviously excited to have him back," Fipp said. "I hated seeing him go, but anyways it’s great to have him back. He’s an energetic player, he’s always got a positive attitude, he’s an optimistic person and he is a very sudden player, too, so that helps. But yeah, we’re definitely excited."

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Moore said it was "bittersweet" watching the Lions go 12-5 and reach the NFC championship game without him last season, but he's grateful to be back in a special teams role this fall.

"I had been with this team when we didn’t win a lot of games, so being in that building and watching those guys win felt great and just feeling like I should have been there, that was the tough part," he said. "But I was super excited for the team, super excited for these guys making plays, so yeah, I would say a little bittersweet, but a lot more sweet."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions' C.J. Moore: 'A lot of good' came out of gambling suspension