The Brendan Sorsby saga took another turn Tuesday. The NCAA has denied the Texas Tech quarterback reinstatement for the 2026 season, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.
Gambling violations led to Sorsby’s current predicament, leaving him on the outside looking in with regards to playing for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech is expected to appeal the NCAA’s decision, The Athletic’s Justin Williams adds. Sorsby is seeking clarity by June 22, the deadline for the NFL’s supplemental draft.
Sorsby entered a treatment program following news that the two-time transfer had made “thousands of online bets on a variety of sports via a gambling app” since 2022, and Thamel adds the quarterback has completed this 35-day in-patient treatment rehab in Goodyear, Ariz. Sorsby is expected to return to Lubbock, Texas, soon, as a Lubbock County court date looms June 1.
The first step on Sorsby’s attempt to return to college football — where a $6MM NIL deal would await from Texas Tech — did not go his way. Sorsby had requested an expedited resolution from the NCAA, as the supplemental draft deadline looms. The supplemental draft peaked in relevancy decades ago and has been canceled a few times in recent years. Sorsby being part of the event this year would change the proceedings, though as our Adam La Rose noted in his most recent PFR mailbag, NFL teams figure to take the gambling component into consideration when determining a possible investment — which would cost a corresponding 2027 draft choice.
The next chapter here will come June 1, when Sorsby’s eligibility case has been assigned a temporary injunction hearing. Sorsby played in one game with Indiana in 2022 and served as the Hoosiers’ primary starter in 2023. He transferred to Cincinnati in 2024 and worked as the Bearcats’ starter over the past two seasons. He had emerged on the radar as a QB to monitor and was squarely on the 2027 draft radar after transferring to Texas Tech. The gambling issues have stonewalled Sorsby’s career, but clarity will emerge soon.
Sorsby has hired high-powered attorney Jeffrey Kessler to represent him. While a return to the college ranks and the lucrative NIL package from the Big 12 program remains the passer’s goal, NFL teams will soon learn if another potential 2026 option will be available.
The supplemental draft’s heyday came in the 1980s, when the likes of Cris Carter, Bernie Kosar, Brian Bosworth and Bobby Humphrey emerged. Kosar’s 1985 path represents the most notable supplemental draft tale, but QBs have been taken in the years since as well. The Cowboys sacrificed a 1990 first-round pick by taking Steve Walsh in the 1989 supplemental draft, while the Cardinals did the same for Timm Rosenbach that year. The Giants forked over their 1993 first-round pick to take Dave Brown in the ’92 supplemental draft, while the Raiders provided the next (and most recent) chapter at the position by using a third-round pick to add then-QB Terrelle Pryor in 2011.
Sorsby would be poised to join these ranks if the courts do not rule in his favor. Otherwise, a potentially awkward 2026 season at Texas Tech would be on track to commence before his NFL arrival.
Reap what you sow. I seriously doubt any NFL team will touch him.
I sure hope not. It’s bad enough that the NFL turns a blind eye to domestic violence ….
Welcome to the real world Brenden. There are real time consequences for your actions. Feel lucky your not sitting in a federal penitentiary……
There were lots of people talking like he would get to play and would only miss 4 games and would be drafted still. His football career is over. He shouldn’t even be able to coach and should be a gambling addiction main sponsor as his big $ job now.