NFL's Sammy Watkins chooses poker over training
Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver misses voluntary workout session to visit casino instead.
Sammy Watkins, wide receiver for the NFL franchise the Buffalo Bills, was due to begin pre-season training on Monday morning, but opted for a game of poker instead.
The Football player visited Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina having attended an American Football training camp in nearby Greenville, South Carolina with his former Clemson teammate, Tajh Boyd.
Non-mandatory training
Although it is an unwritten rule that players should attend these fitness sessions, they are in fact voluntary so the player has done nothing wrong and is unlikely to be disciplined, a fate not shared by other professional sport stars.
This is why the player felt free enough to share via Facebook a picture of about $6,500 in poker chips taken at the casino, which was staging a WSOP event at the time.
Later on, a second Facebook post gave details of how Watkins and a friend stayed in the casino all night, leaving at 8am Tuesday morning.
Although little harm was done, the 22 year old who was the Bills' first-round pick two years ago, is a valuable, high scoring player so it's likely that fans, coaches, and teammates may not see the funny side.
The NFL in particular take a no-nonsense anti-gambling stance and last year banned several Miami Dolphins players from participating in a $94 buy-in poker tournament in Watkins' home state of Florida.
