Senators' Brady Tkachuk speaks out about sports bettors on Venmo
The sports betting craze isn't going back in the bottle.
Ottawa Senators star Brady Tkachuk is just the latest to speak out about how it impacts athletes.
Tkachuk shared with ESPN's Greg Wyshynski that he previously had an easily accessible Venmo account under his name. For the uninitiated, that's an app that allows users to send and receive money from others, like PayPal.
But when Tkachuk would fail to do something on the ice, he'd be bombarded with payment requests from sports bettors.
"People think I'm really going to send them money?" Tkachuk said. "... You really think I care about your parlay?"
Tkachuk told Wyshynski that he changed his profile to avoid the obnoxious requests.
It's certainly an odd dynamic that people who lose bets would then search out an athlete on Venmo to request money from them, as if they had any intention of performing a certain way on the ice that missed with someone's ability to win money on a wager.
It's also an ironically timed anecdote from Tkachuk, because Venmo and betting are in the news thanks to a controversy involving Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and old Venmo payments listed as being for sports bets.
Mostly, it's just sad.
Tkachuk and professional athletes all around the NHL and the other major sports leagues have worked their entire lives to be on those stages. And while there are always going to be bad eggs, the vast, vast majority of the athletes aren't worried at all about the sports bets on their game. They want to perform well, and they want to win.
Getting Venmo requests after a game for something they didn't do just isn't the way to go.
MORE: Mitch Marner facing a massive question after move from Toronto to Vegas
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
AP releases its all-time All-America college football team featuring some of the greatest names in the game
NEW YORK (AP) — AP releases its all-time All-America college football team featuring some of the greatest names in the game.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'It's legendary' - AP All-America honor resonates for some of college football's all-time greats
Desmond Howard walked up a ramp in Schembechler Hall, looking at black-and-white pictures hanging on a white wall where Michigan honors its All-America football players. The 1991 Heisman Trophy winner stopped to point out the image of two-time AP All-America receiver Anthony Carter, who starred for the program several seasons before Howard crossed the Ohio border to become a Wolverine. Howard grinned after taking a few more steps and seeing his high-top fade hairstyle captured in a photo that cemented his legacy for the college football program with the most wins. 'You're remembered as one of the greats, that's for sure," Howard told the AP. 'You put on the V-neck sweater with the maize block 'M,' and you take your picture and you know that you're in a special group.' With the 2025 season here, the AP named an all-time All-America team to mark the 100th anniversary of the first team from the early days of the sport. Many outlets have named All-America teams over the decades, but only a few such as AP have stuck around. A number of player sspoke with AP about what the honor meant: Hugh Green, Pittsburgh When the three-time All-America defensive end is asked who was the most influential people in his life, he says Bob Hope. Hope's annual Christmas specials featured AP All-Americanss from 1971 to 1994 and Green recalled the late comedian pulling him aside during commercial breaks to rave about his play in games that were not on TV. 'Kids today might take it a bit different, but we should always have a person that has his credentials do the AP All-American show every year,' Green said. 'That was something very special and unique.' Herschel Walker, Georgia Walker won a national championship as a freshman with the Bulldogs and said he got too much credit over teammates like the offensive linemen who paved the way for his success. The three-time All-America running back is proud, though, to have shown that someone from Wrightsville, Georiga, with a population of about 3,000 people, could make it big. 'I wanted to inspire people from my little hometown — or kids from small towns around this country — to let them know you can do it too,' he said. Anthony Carter, Michigan The late Bo Schembechler was known for a run-heavy offense at Michigan, but that didn't stop a 155-pound freshman from becoming a big-play threat right away and eventually a two-time AP All-America. 'No one thought I would last in the Big Ten,' Carter said. 'To be an All-American means a lot, coming out of Michigan because we didn't throw the ball a lot. I wouldn't have achieved what I did without a lot of great teammates.' Orlando Pace, Ohio State Buckeye Grove is a small patch of land with a sea of trees a few steps south of Ohio Stadium, a place where Ohio State honors its All-America football players with a buckeye tree and a plaque. 'When you get older, you kind of appreciate those things,' said Pace, a two-time All-America offensive tackle. 'I have kids that go to Ohio State, and I always tell them to go by and check out my tree.' Greg Jones, Michigan State He played in 20 games, including the playoffs, as a rookie linebacker for the New York Giants when they won the Super Bowl in 2012. His NFL career ended after a six-game stint the next season in Jacksonville. His back-to-back All-America honors, however, still shine as accomplishments. 'It's etched in history,' Jones said, holding one of the plaques with his All-America certificate. 'Obviously, you can get cut from an NFL team, you can lose your job, but that can stay forever.' Braylon Edwards, Michigan The Wolverines' all-time leader in receptions, yards receiving and touchdown catches was aware two decades ago that there were a lot of college football All-America teams, but recalled one being the most coveted. 'The AP was the one I that cared about," Edwards said. "The writers telling me that I was the player that deserved to be All-American, that was the one that I was waiting for.' James Laurinaitis, Ohio State When the three-time All-America linebacker takes recruits on tours as an assistant coach, Buckeye Grove is always a stop on the visit. 'It's pretty cool to kind of honor that tradition,' he said. Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska He is the only Associated Press College Football Player of the Year to exclusively play defense, but still laments that he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. He was an AP All-America in 2009. 'The Associated Press saw something special in me that the Heisman didn't,' Suh said. 'I am all 10 toes down with The Associated Press." Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan As the son of second-team AP All-America defensive tackle Chris Hutchinson, earning a spot on the All-America wall alongside his father was a goal for Aidan Hutchinson during his senior year four years ago. 'There's a lot of All-American teams, but AP is different,' he said. 'It's legendary.' Terrion Arnold, Alabama The Crimson Tide recognizes its All-America players on a wall in their training facility, intentionally putting the displays in a room recruits visit on campus, and at various locations at Bryant-Denny Stadium. 'Just walking in there and being a little kid and just thinking, one day that would be me, and then just going out there and fulfilling that dream,' Arnold said. 'It's also one of those things when I take my future family to Alabama, and look at it, `Son, this is what your dad was like.'' ___ Follow Larry Lage on X. ___ AP college football: and
21 minutes ago
Patrick Mahomes opens up about daughter Golden's birth in new clip from 'The Kingdom'
Brittany and Patrick Mahomes welcomed Golden in January 2025. 1:36 Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes opens up about the birth of his and wife Brittany Mahomes' second daughter, Golden Raye, in a clip from ESPN's new docuseries "The Kingdom." The father of three said his youngest daughter's arrival earlier this year felt like perfect timing. "Brittany crushed it. I was watching playoff games the entire day. She went to labor after one game," Patrick Mahomes recalled. "Baby was here before the next game, so I didn't even miss a playoff game. So, she is as locked in as I am as far as football goes." What to know about Patrick Mahomes' wife Brittany and their kids Brittany Mahomes and Patrick Mahomes welcomed Golden back in January. The now-7-month-old is the couple's third child after daughter Sterling Skye, 4, and 2-year-old son Patrick "Bronze" Lavon Mahomes III. The Mahomeses are featured alongside fellow Kansas City players and their families in "The Kingdom," which examines the NFL team's 65-year history and modern-day dynasty. Viewers will get an unprecedented look at the team's players and coaches during the 2024 season, when the team fought for a "three-peat" championship in Super Bowl LIX. The team allowed cameras to follow them on the field, in the locker room and even outside of the stadium. "The Kingdom" premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, with the first two episodes of the six-part docuseries out on ESPN. All six episodes of "The Kingdom" will also be available to stream on ESPN+ and Disney+ starting Thursday.
