Brendan Sorsby‘s college football career appears to be on life support.
The NCAA denied the 22-year-old’s request for reinstatement on Tuesday with Texas Tech already working on an appeal to keep their coveted quarterback. Sorsby has a separate injunction hearing scheduled for Monday (with his personal attorneys) that would allow him to play as his legal case progresses.
The injunction seems to be his last chance at playing for the Red Raiders this year, as the NCAA has “already informed Sorsby’s legal team that it will not negotiate a settlement to get Sorsby back on the field,” per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
Such a settlement would have involved accepting a suspension for his infractions while remaining eligible to play later in the year. It was seen as the quickest path for his return to the field, but the NCAA will instead force him to prove his case in court.
Winning the injunction seems like a long shot, too. All Sorsby has to do is prove he has a chance of winning the case, but his admission of sports gambling and entrance into a treatment program is near-incontrovertible evidence against him.
As a result, it increasingly seems that the NFL’s supplemental draft will be Sorsby’s eventual next step. He could still face discipline from the league, perhaps also accepting a suspension similar to the Terrelle Pryor case as a condition of entering the draft. He would have time in July to work out in front of NFL teams, likely in a pro day-style setting with private workouts with interested teams.
Breer mentions the Colts and Steelers as two clubs who could take a look at Sorsby should he be available in July. Indianapolis signed Daniel Jones to a two-year deal, but he will have to prove he can resume his stellar play from 2025 post-injury. But his overall career suggests he may not be a long-term franchise quarterback, so the Colts could consider throwing a mid-round pick at Sorsby to prepare themselves from 2027 and beyond.
Pittsburgh has had no issue using Day 2 selections on quarterbacks in each of the last two drafts. Perhaps they would be willing to do so again, but that would create a developmental logjam with Will Howard and Drew Allar already taking second-team reps behind Aaron Rodgers.
Bros gonna dominate the CFL for years to come.
This lawyer he hired, Kessler, I’m very intrigued if he has a plan of attack that’s bigger than just his client. He seems to really enjoy sticking it to the NCAA (#hero), and maybe he’s gonna use this case to make the NCAA face up to how cozy it’s gotten with the betting crowd. I mean, it’s completely possible this is just a paycheck to him and there’s no grand scale objective in play. Hope not, though. Would be fun to see him smack around the NCAA some more.
I disagree on what I would prefer the outcome to be (Sorsby made his bed), but I agree on your characterization of Kessler, and he has been quite good at it. I personally think that this is a bridge too far rules-wise to send the message that players should be gambling actively (I do not like the leagues’ embrace of it, which I believe is extraordinarily hypocritical), but Kessler has been very good at framing his clients’ issues as part of a more wide ranging issue affecting all athletes rather than just the ones he represents. I expect Sorsby to ultimately play, in one or another, in the next two years. The most interesting (and to me, preferable) outcome would be one that neither gives ground to Sorsby and also divests, or at least reduces. The league’s endorsements or partnerships with these gambling platforms that send two sides messages to the players and fans.
I have no particular emotional investment one way or the other about Sorsby. But the NCAA has always viewed the well-being of student-athletes as something they tolerate as a way to get their bag and a bag for any of the other gross, disgusting powerbrokers in major college athletics they align with. So, I’m totally fine if Sorsby doesn’t get his come-uppance for a pretty flagrant violation if Kessler uses it as a platform to bring to light the harm the NCAA causes by getting into bed with gambling companies, while also pointing out how they care more about that cash infusion than they do the student-athletes they’re meant to look out for.
Throughout all of jurisprudence history, some very beneficial and important rights and rules have come out of cases that involved less desirable persons in the role of defendant.
I agree with some of that, but I do think that the NCAA does serve a purpose. We’ve been trained to only see them as evil in all cases, but someone has the inevitable task of creating and enforcing rules so that more powerful programs don’t overtake others, amongst other things. I don’t hold the athletes as Lilly pure in this, either. A lot of them are just as greedy as the NCAA is, even if we are not accustomed to saying it. And the lawyers and agents who come with them are much, much more so than either entity.
Still, I do agree that the NCAA is a mess of hypocrites in many respects, and don’t adequately (or rather, haven’t-now, they’re essentially toothless) care for the well being of the former student athletes. I don’t want that to get lost in this. I just don’t think that the athletes are morally better by default. Sorsby definitely knew the rules, and the NCAA’s own hypocrisy doesn’t eliminate his responsibility to follow them if he wants to participate. It just sends the message that anyone can do what he did without consequence, which contributes even more to Wild West of chaos that college football has become since the NCAA was stripped down.
I do agree with your argument that Kessler has made a habit in the past of trailblazing, some of it quite positively. I just don’t know what the positive is here. Enabling athletes to bet while playing? Is that good? I won’t knock down the NCAA just to push for something like that, personally. We’ll see how Kessler decides to frame his argument, and if it does lead to positive or negative changes.
My best guess on how this plays out- and to emphasize, I am very self-aware that I have no true legal insight/acumen/experience, and I also acknowledge that I’m not nearly as smart as Kessler so it’s kind of arrogant of me to try to assume what he might do- is Kessler is going to advance some new legal/administrative precedent, perhaps something that deals with gambling as a medical issue and how schools can’t punish students for their medical issues… or something similar that frames things in the bigger picture of student-athlete welfare.
As far as doing right by his client, Kessler might only try to satisfy that legal requirement about presenting a case that has a chance of winning… which would then allow Sorsby to continue playing college football while his case is being adjucated, which also means Sorsby can collect his NIL… and that may be what would be viewed as a win for his (Kessler’s) client, while Kessler gets to continue arguing for the bigger picture and force the NCAA to do right by the student-athletes.
Sorsby wants to keep playing college football long enough to collect NIL and improve his NFL draft stock, and Kessler just needs to buy him enough time to do that while a case winds through the justice system, and Kessler gets to knock the NCAA around some more.
Fair predictions, I’d probably guess the same. No matter what, it’ll be interesting to see what they’ll decide to do. Kessler has a history of setting precedent, and whatever comes out of this could certainly be impactful.
Sorsby is a loser. He knew the rules against gambling, let him face the music. The worse thing to happen in college sports is the NIL and it’s money. Used to be a full ride scholarship was enough for these players but no…..NCAA created this monster by paying these kids, giving them scholarships, then getting cozy with the betting platforms… Sorsby needs long term help and sure doesn’t need to be playing college or NFL football where the money he makes will surely keep him addicted to gambling…. would you want your favorite team drafting this guy? Not me….
NIL and gambling have nothing to do with one another, and Big Money has been a problem in college sports long before either came around. It’s just now it’s not solely the NCAA big shots like NCAA board of governors and head coaches and athletic directors personally benefitting… now the athletes get to benefit as well… you know, the people that truly matter in college sports.
So you don’t think giving 18-22 year olds millions of dollars in disposable income has anything to do with them gambling?
Sorsby was a reserve at the time he was caught gambling and receiving no NIL money.
If a person has a gambling problem, they’re going to gamble regardless of their income level. No different than how- right now- there are people punching the last of their minimum wage paycheck into a slot machine or handing it off on a street corner for drugs or drinking the last of it away at the bar. More income just means they’ll hit rock bottom before their bank account is totally drained or that hitting rock bottom is delayed for a little while longer.
NIL isn’t going to make people gamble. What makes people gamble is something in their psyche. If we want to blame a societal cause, then the normalization of gambling in tv/streaming ads and the simple convenience to placing a bit- like on a phone app- are far more responsible for the proliferation of gambling in our society.
The gambling companies and their related media partners are everywhere we look telling people how much fun it is to gamble. And we know this kind of advertising works because the sports industry is fueled by advertisting revenues- for all industries. So to turn around and act shocked SHOCKED that there are people falling victim to that persuasion even when they’ve been told not to, that’s a bit disingenuous. And while I agree that Sorsby should suffer some consequences for breaking the rules, I’m not about to let the NCAA or gambling companies and their media partners (aka ESPN) off the hook for their contribution to the gambling epidemic.
Enough of this guy. He knew the rules, broke the rules at the highest level and now says he’s sorry and is trying to hide behind addiction. Nope, you’re gone bro. Face the consequences of your actions for once
“Pittsburgh has had no issue using Day 2 selections on quarterbacks in each of the last two drafts.”
Will Howard was a Day 3 (6th round) selection I do believe.