New England Patriots’ second-year receiver Kayshon Boutte called his decision to bet on sports in college “dumb,” saying he’s happy to just be focused on football now. Speaking to reporters on Sunday about the underage gambling charges against him that were dropped two weeks ago, Boutte said that he’s focused on improving as a football player, battling for a roster spot, and helping his team get better.
It feels good not thinking about what’s going to happen every day, just coming out and playing free.”
“It’s only football from here,” Boutte said. “It feels good not thinking about what’s going to happen every day, just coming out and playing free.”
According to the Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division, Boutte placed over 8,900 bets while a student-athlete at LSU and was underage for all but the final day of his wagering. Six of the bets were on his own team and a couple were prop bets on himself to eclipse over/under marks.
Boutte was arrested in January on underage gambling and computer fraud charges, the latter related to using a fake name and birthday to create a FanDuel account linked to his mother’s credit card. The charges were dropped in mid-July.
“It was a dumb decision that I made when I was young,” Boutte admitted. “Unfortunately, it happened, but now it’s behind us and let’s just focus on football.”
“I just feel like I need to stay away from it,” he added, talking about gambling. “It’s not like I’m addicted or nothing, but just something that I need to let go. I wouldn’t try it again knowing that something worse could come from it. You live and you learn. Like coach says, ‘You don’t want to make the same mistake twice.’”