Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte Pens Essay About Gambling Addiction That ‘Damn Near Ruined My Life’

New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte penned a piece in The Players’ Tribune detailing his struggle with gambling addiction under the headline, “How The Hell Did I Get Here???”

Boutte’s affliction began when he was a star player at LSU, where he was injured during his sophomore season and turned to gambling as an escape.

“How do you get that feeling back of competing?” Boutte writes. “You start gambling. That’s how I ended up going down a dark road. That’s how I ended up pacing around my apartment at 3 o’clock in the morning, betting on whatever I could bet on at that time of night. I don’t even know….. It honestly didn’t matter. You’re just caught in the cycle.

“That’s how I damn near ruined my life.”

Climbing Back From Rock Bottom

Boutte falsified his date of birth and used an alias to create a FanDuel account. He was later arrested for underage gambling before the charges were dropped. The ease of using apps to bet created a pathway to ruin for Boutte.

“I’d wake up early in the morning, and the first thing I’d do was bet,” he writes. “I’d stay up late and bet. All day. All night. I had insomnia, so if I woke up in the middle of the night, phone next to the bed, I’d bet. Any little money I had, it was going straight to FanDuel.”

As a star player in the SEC, Boutte was earning money through Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. Ultimately, Boutte lost it all.

“I gambled until I was completely broke,” Boutte wrote. “When it was all said and done, I put in around $90,000 of my own money, and lost it all. That’s like taking a duffel bag stuffed with 90 bands and just emptying it over a bridge or something. Throwing it in the wind.”

The addiction nearly cost Boutte a shot at an NFL career, as he contemplated walking away from LSU. Then, with his health restored and a baby on the way during his junior year, his life took a turn for the better.

“Nothing wakes you up faster than that,” he writes. “I just looked at myself in the mirror one day and realized, Bruh, the way you living ain’t healthy. And if I’m being honest, I think there was probably a little bit of shame to that realization, too.”

Cautionary Tale Can Help Others

Noah Vineberg recently shared his redemption story with CasinoBeats, hoping it could help others struggling with gambling addiction. Stories like these highlight human frailty and the need for assistance. Boutte closed his piece on that important note.

“The next time you see a headline about a gambling story, and somebody going down for it….. Just remember that there’s a person behind that headline. When you ask yourself, ‘How could they do something like that? How could they risk it all? What were they thinking?’

“The sad part is, they weren’t thinking. They were going through something. Don’t give up on them. Maybe they just need some help.”

Editor’s note: The National Problem Gambling Helpline™ is 1-800-522-4700. It serves as a resource for individuals who may be struggling with problem gambling or gambling addiction, or their loved ones.