“I gambled until I was completely broke. When it was all said and done, I put in around $90,000 of my own money, and lost it all.”
Kayshon Boutte emerged as Drake Maye’s go-to deep threat this season. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)
Ahead of his first NFL playoff game with the Patriots on Sunday night, wide receiver Kayshon Boutte reflected on the journey he’s been on to get to this moment — including his struggles with gambling addictions.
In a personal essay published in The Players’ Tribute titled “How The Hell Did I Get Here???,” Boutte acknowledged that he “fell in love with gambling” during his collegiate years at LSU.
“I was 20. I was at LSU. Full ride. Whole future ahead of me. And I didn’t care at all.” Boutte wrote. “Some people hit the slots, the tables, the apps, spend what they can spend, and go home — or put the phone down. Not me.
“I’d wake up early in the morning, and the first thing I’d do was bet. 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.”
Boutte noted that his struggles with gambling started after he suffered a debilitating ankle injury as a sophomore with the Tigers.
At one point, the explosive wideout was seemingly poised to be the next great receiver out of LSU like Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase. He set an LSU single-game record with 14 catches for 308 yards and three touchdowns against Ole Miss in the final game of his true freshman campaign.
As a sophomore, he reeled in 38 catches for 508 yards and nine touchdowns over his first six games before going down with that injury — hindering him the rest of his college career and hurting his stock before New England eventually selected him in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
During his extensive rehab process, Boutte acknowledged, he became addicted to betting as an outlet to channel his frustrations. It had severe consequences.
“I gambled until I was completely broke. When it was all said and done, I put in around $90,000 of my own money, and lost it all,” Boutte wrote. “That’s like taking a duffle bag stuffed with 90 bands and just emptying it over a bridge or something. Throwing it in the wind. Dollars floating away. Gone.
“At a certain point, when you hit rock bottom, every gambling addict has this moment when you layin’ in bed just seeing $0.00 on the app. And you know that’s your last. And it’s like……. How the hell did I get here???”
Boutte said that both his return to the footfield field and becoming a father gave him the reality check he needed to step away from the constant wagering on his phone.
“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,” Boutte wrote. “Growing up, my dad was a real hard-working dude, doing offshore, blue collar work — getting up at 5 or 6 a.m. I didn’t really come from a rich household, but anything we wanted, my parents made it happen. And I wanted to be that for my family.”
Boutte’s first years in New England were filled with plenty of ups and downs, as he recorded just two catches over five games as a rookie during the 2023 season under Bill Belichick.
Further compounding his woes was his arrest in January 2024 for underage gambling and fraud charges for placing bets on sporting events while at LSU. Charges were later dropped against Boutte in July 2024 after he completed a gambling awareness program and executed self-ban agreements in Massachusetts and with several sportsbook companies. Investigators determined he did not bet against himself or LSU.
Amid those rookie struggles and legal woes, Boutte expressed gratitude to the Patriots for sticking with him during his first years in the NFL.
“I owe the Patriots organization everything. … How many of those 32 teams would’ve just walked away at that point? Especially from a sixth-round pick,” Boutte wrote. “But the organization knew my heart, and they stuck by me.”
Both Boutte and the Patriots have benefited this season, with a 14-3 New England team set to take on the Chargers on Sunday night in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Boutte has emerged as Drake Maye’s most-trusted deep threat down the sidelines, breaking through in 2025 with 33 catches for 551 yards and six touchdowns on the season. His 16.7 yards per reception ranked fourth in the NFL among qualified players (min. 10 games played).
As he preps for Sunday’s showdown at Gillette Stadium, Boutte concluded his essay with a message to others about the dangers of gambling.
“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,” Boutte wrote. “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.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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