JUNE 6: The NCAA has denied Texas Tech’s appeal to reinstate Sorsby’s eligibility, per ESPN, an expected development considering the nature and extent of his gambling infractions. Receiving an injunction in his pending lawsuit against the NCAA is now Sorsby’s only path to playing college football this year.
JUNE 3: Brendan Sorsby has not given up on playing college football for Texas Tech this year, but barring an unlikely injunction to preserve his NCAA eligibility, the 22-year-old quarterback seems headed for the NFL’s supplemental draft.
If Sorsby elects to go pro this year, he will have to first apply for the supplemental draft by June 22. The NFL will review his situation – extensive sports betting during his college career and subsequent treatment for a gambling addiction – and decide if he can enter.
The league has rarely rejected players in this process, though the extent of Sorsby’s infractions will draw close scrutiny given heightened attention around sports leagues’ connection to gambling. He has admitted to placing more than 9,000 bets worth over $90K in total, per Justin Williams of The Athletic, including at least 40 bets on the Indiana football team while he was a member.
Sorsby could be forced to accept a suspension as a condition of his entrance into the draft, as was the case with Terrelle Pryor in 2011. That is unlikely to scare off interested teams; a late-July supplemental draft would have him joining his new team in training camp and minimize any expectations for his rookie year.
Teams will be doing their homework on Sorsby on and off the field. He will have a shortened pre-draft process between July 5 and July 12, a span that will include a pro day in Dallas and likely some private workouts with specific clubs, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. Assessments of Sorsby vary, but evaluators inside the NFL are already impressed by his arm with one executive rating him higher than Rams No. 13 pick Ty Simpson. Some area scouts even have him graded higher than Texas’ Arch Manning, per Tony Pauline of EssentiallySports.
That has created some lofty projections for Sorsby’s potential supplemental draft slot. The supplemental draft uses a complicated lottery and bidding system, but essentially, the team that selects Sorsby will give up a corresponding pick in the same round of next year’s draft. Already seen as a likely 2027 first-rounder, a strong 2026 campaign at Texas Tech could have vaulted him into top-10 status.
Teams who are unlikely to pick that high – Breer mentions the Steelers and the Colts – might take a discounted shot on a high-level arm talent. Others who were planning to add a franchise quarterback in next year’s draft could opt for a more immediate option, especially if they were already interested in Sorsby after his two standout years at Cincinnati. The result would likely be a late first- or early second-round pick, both Breer and Pauline note.
Sorsby’s off-field situation remains fluid and the biggest X-factor in his future. Teams will need to be convinced that he has put his sports gambling issues behind him as he enters a league that will not hesitate to punish him for a recurrence of the same infractions. Some clubs may be scared off entirely, but time and time again, the NFL has proven that talent, especially at the quarterback position, typically gets the benefit of the doubt – and then some.
Sorsby has a gambling problem. Do you want to be the team that drafts him?
At the same time though he would have been a first round pick last draft and next so the team that gets him could have a good quarterback
I don’t think once the gambling stuff came out he was going on the first.
Only 50 % of 1st round QB’s are actually any good …. do you want to take a flyer on a guy with a serious gambling addiction? Teams already have their QB’S going into camps…why add the headache and insuing media coverage 🤔
Definitely a concern in the NFL, where only the refs are allowed to gamble and fix games.
They’re not gambling, they’re just doing the job the league hired them to do (you will notice I did not disagree with you about them fixing games).
From $6 million in NIL money and a chance to play his way into the first round to being what, at best a fifth round pick in the supplemental draft? If that. I hope every college program tells every player to remember this example.
Ill bet on better than a 5th
Yeah I can see a 3rd. Its a decently hyped QB prospect after all
Why? The 2027 draft class is LOADED in talent …. why waste such a high pick on a guy who is marginal at best with the added risk factors of throwing a game for a bet…..
Supply and demand
So the Colts take Art Schlichter 2.0? History really would be repeating itself.
Teams draft guys who’ve been in lethal car racing incidents or have domestic violence historys. Nothing they do would surprise me.
5 to 1 on Fan Duel he doesn’t get picked!
I bet he has money on it…
Somebody we’re not even thinking of will spend a high pick on him, I’m thinking Cleveland or Dallas.
Lol
As a Browns fan I can say we won’t be drafting Sorsby
Don’t bet on it. Browns have been collecting QBs like they’re going out of style.
Bros gonna be the GOAT of the CFL when it’s all said and done.
CFL season kicks off tonight…GO TICATS!
Sure college and nfl have a gambling rule. And at the same time promote the F out of gambling at every possible moment. Greedy MFers.
I worked for my state lottery for a summer when I was in college. The state promoted the lottery all the time. Every sports game had ads for the lottery. You know who couldn’t play the lottery? Employees of the lottery. It’s not inconsistent and it’s not greedy. If players are dumb enough to bet on their sport when it’s abundantly clear they are not allowed to do so, they deserve to be suspended or banned.
How is it not greedy by the sports leagues to take gambling money while acknowledging the risks?
Taking money from the sportsbooks to make even more money when it’s completely unnecessary for the growth of the game is the absolute definition of greed.
It’s the same as how alcohol has been linked to every sport for decades. Alcohol and gambling are really bad for you when done too much, but the companies pay the sports enough to get promoted so it isn’t ever going to stop.
Not even remotely similar besides both being vices. One clearly risks the integrity of the game, the other is just unhealthy.
“both being vices” and stuffed in your face every single commercial break is similar enough to bring it up. I fully agree that anyone that plays sports and gambles on the sport ruins the game and with them making so much $ now they have no reason or excuse to not get banned for doing it.
He has criminal charges coming in Indiana and Ohio
“Teams will need to be convinced that he has put his sports gambling issues behind him as he enters a league that will not hesitate to punish him for a recurrence of the same infractions.”
How is this possible? He’s an addict who just went through rehab. We won’t know if he’s put gambling behind him for years.
One of the most underrated quarterbacks in recent memory but it was obvious he stopped loving football and was more concerned about his career after football. He stopped playing to win and started playing not to get hurt.
Wilson? Wrong story.
If Deshaun Watson can play anyone can play.
Watson served his suspension and now the problem is done. With an addict, there is no telling if/when a gambler will relapse and you lose him repeatedly. See Josh Gordon…different addiction(s), but still a good cautionary tale.
I doubt Watson’s problem is done. Maybe you thought it was over after the initial report came out, only to have subsequent women step forward a couple more times afterwards.
Nothing new has been reported in years.
You really need to look at the date those ‘articles’ you googled were printed.
If only he had just committed sexual battery instead… right, NFL?
I believe in 2nd chances, but would not take a chance on Sorsby just yet. He, or any other addict, would have to show me he has this under control and refrain from the addictive behavior for longer than a couple of weeks before I’d invest significant assets in acquiring him.
I mean the only way for him to show you he has it under control is for someone to give him an opportunity. Only way he can have a second chance is to well… give him a second chance
I agree, but I would take that chance already. He can be a college student, or whatever, and stay away from gambling until next April. Someone can draft him then. I might if I was a GM but would not risk a 1st round pick on him.
These prospects always get overhyped before the supplemental draft. He was going to have to play his way into the first round during this coming season, no chance a team gives up a first round pick in 2027 before they know where the pick will be for this guy now.
It’ll be like a 4th round pick at best, and people will act like it was a massive steal because some talking heads made up that he was worth a first round pick with all this baggage.
Who said anything about a 1st? In a regular draft without this controversy he wasnt exactly a 1st round lock. In the supplemental I cant see it costing more than a 3rd, and I think im overvaluing a bit there
I don’t know that you are, I can see a team that expects to get comp picks, or already has multiple 3rd rounders taking a shot. I believe the Vikings have multiple 3s, depending on what happens with JJ, that wouldn’t be too shocking.
Yeah I can definitely see a team spending a 3rd. I think what I meant by overvaluing was that I value him as less than a 3rd, like i would be happy spending a 4th if I were making the calls. But theres absolutely a chance theres a desperate enough team or teams that will up the bid
…I would **NOT** take that chance..
I left out a very key word
Let him go get a job in the CFL or one of those other leagues…he’ll get his 2nd chance …..
He’ll get drafted. People need to understand that the NFL has some very stupid owners in control of their teams
That’s only if the NFL let’s him enter the league…..
Whoever drafts him I hope he f’s you over somehow.
Show us where the bad man touched you. Getting all emotional over a kid who gambled. WOW.
I still find it hilarious people are upset him and Pete Rose bet on their teams to win games
Like what’s the harm in betting on winning lol? What he’s gonna play better cause he’s got a 10k payout waiting? Oh no.
“Compromises the integrity of the game”
Not really. What compromises the integrity of the game is college players making business decisions to sit out games so they don’t get injured affecting bowl games. Yeah I wanna watch back up QBs back up WRs non star players in bowl games esp higher end ones. That affects integrity of the game more than someone betting on his team to win, purposefully designating yourself as a healthy scratch and keeping the NIL money
What if they play extra hard for the games they bet on, but relax on non-bets? Unless they bet on every game to win, it still skews the betting lines.
yeah no
So you think he’s gonna risk his status as the starter and draft status by purposefully playing poorly in games he doesn’t bet on?
Yeah no
That’d be like saying I’m only gonna show up to work when the boss buys us lunch. Not gonna work out well for you.
Consumer confidence my guy. Sports betting already comes with a lot of gray area. It doesn’t matter if he’s trying or not, it’s the perception.
Well considering bets are made BEFORE games you’re arguing consumers are predicting whether Sorsby will or won’t throw a game? Yeah I can definitely see people sitting there thinking “he’s gonna throw the game he’s not gonna throw the game” picking petals off a rose like some high school girl figuring out if her crush likes her or not.
Or in reality people look at odds they like and don’t like and place bets accordingly regardless
What Sorsby does or doesn’t do with bets. In fact refs have more influence on consumer confidence than Sorsby does.
That is a lot of mental gymnastics to justify something that is clearly wrong.
You don’t know that either Rose or this kid bet on their teams to win. Can we really take their words for it. Nope.
Rose kept records of games he bet on lmao
And yes now a days you can track digitally which bets are mad, who made them, when, and where
You don’t have a clue how online betting works do you?
Art Schilchter 2.0..stay far away
He could well be. For anyone not aware, the Colts drafted QB Art Schlichter out of Ohio State 4th overall (1st round) of the 1982 draft. His career derailed due to a gambling addiction. Here’s an excerpt from his wikipedia page, which is a cautionary tale:
“Between the winter of 1982 and the spring of 1983, Schlichter lost $489,000 betting on basketball games. When bookies threatened to harm or expose Schlichter if he did not pay up, he went to the FBI in March 1983 and gave information that helped get the bookies arrested on federal charges. He also sought help from the NFL, as he feared the bookies would force him to throw games in return for not telling the Colts about his activities. The league suspended him indefinitely, but Commissioner Pete Rozelle reduced the suspension to thirteen months after Schlichter agreed to seek treatment for his gambling addiction.
Schlichter was reinstated for the 1984 season but later admitted that he’d gambled during his suspension (though not on football). He was released five games into the 1985 season, in part because the Colts heard rumors that he was gambling again.”
The more I think about it, it would be smart for the NFL to suspend Sorsby for at least a year. That way there’s more time to assess whether he’s got his gambling under control. It’s up to him to show he’s walking the straight and narrow. There’s just no way to make that assessment right now.
I thought the NFL had decided to drop the supplemental draft a while back because of a lack of interest and activity. When did they decide to resurrect it?
I’ll bet most of the country has a gambling problem lol he’s just in the “spot light” so it’s a “problem” there’s millions of people who have lost more than his 90k or whatever it was. You wanna solve the sports gambling problem then after every game have every player, coach, staff, trainers, refs, everyone take a lie detector test if you fail it your kicked out of whatever league, sport, and school for good no second chances. I’ll bet things get cleaned up all over sports🤣
The difference is, these are professional athletes and they’re playing in a professional sports league. Someone who never played organized sports and doesn’t know sportsmanship would make a comment like yours, and it shows.
“Gambling is a disease, but it’s the only disease where you can win a bunch of money.” – Norm
And lose even more…..
“It’s a dog eat dog world, Sammy, and I’m wearing Milk-Bone underwear” — also Norm
As a Steeler fan I still have such fond memories of Norm Johnson’s years as Steelers kicker, when after every kick he made at home, the video screen would show Norm Peterson entering Cheers saying “Evening everybody”, and 60K Steeler fans would respond “NORM!!!”
What idiot rated Sorsby higher than Arch Manning? This is like Leaf over Peyton again. Tunnel vision on arm strength but ignoring character development is how some teams stay at the bottom, Browns, Jets.
Not sure how the Jets fit here lol What QB have they drafted that has had these character concerns? Geno mightve been the only locker room headache while guys like Darnold and Wilson were failures in NY due to the performance on the field, not their character traits
What stops Sorsby from having a friend or a complete stranger make bets for him?
That’s what Ohtani did
Dallas Cowboy. BOOK IT.