Brendan Sorsby Granted Injunction; QB Retains 2026 NCAA Eligibility
Previous updates in the case of quarterback Brendan Sorsby increasingly pointed to him participating in the NFL’s supplemental draft. That will not be taking place this summer, however.
Sorsby’s legal team has been granted an injunction by a judge in Lubbock, Texas, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports. As a result, he is set to retain his NCAA eligibility for the 2026 season. Today’s unexpected development means Sorsby will not need to declare for the supplemental draft and instead enter the NFL under traditional circumstances next April.
[RELATED: NCAA Appeals Sorsby Injunction]
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger notes a condition of the injunction is that Sorsby will miss the first two games of Texas Tech’s season this fall. That was offered by his representatives as part of their efforts to work out a suspension allowing him to play in 2026. The NCAA expectedly shut down attempts by Sorsby’s camp and Texas Tech in recent days to work out a deal on this front. That seemed to set up one of the more interesting supplemental drafts in recent NFL history, but Sorsby’s attention will instead turn to preparation for another college season.
During his freshman year at Indiana, Sorsby placed numerous bets on the Hoosiers. No wagers were placed on games in which Sorsby played, but those bets – along with a high volume of others – represented a clear violation of the NCAA’s rules related to wagering. A lifetime ban was widely expected by many observers in this case, something which would have left the supplemental draft as Sorsby’s only path to the NFL. Now, though, the Red Raiders will have their QB1 for the coming season on an NIL deal worth roughly $6MM.
Some evaluators viewed Sorsby as a first-round prospect based on performances at Cincinnati over the past two years. The 2027 class is seen as being much stronger than 2026’s at the QB position in particular, but Sorsby could cement his status as a valuable passer leading up to the spring with a season free of further controversy. Sorsby entered a treatment program for a gambling addiction earlier this offseason.
As noted by Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, today’s injunction also includes the condition that Sorsby continue receiving treatment for his gambling addiction along with anxiety (something noted in his original filing for an injunction). Sorsby will also be required to attend gambler’s anonymous meetings in addition to his suspension to open the season. Nevertheless, this news marks a surprise which will leave him on track to enter the NFL draft as part of the 2027 class.
NCAA Appeals Brendan Sorsby Injunction
A Texas judge handed a stunning defeat to the NCAA on Monday, granting an injunction to Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby that keeps him eligible for the 2026 season. The NCAA has unsurprisingly appealed the decision, per Justin Williams of The Athletic, sending the case to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas.
Sorsby admitted to an extensive history of sports betting and entered a treatment facility for gambling addiction earlier this year. Between his own bets and bets placed by friends on his behalf, he has wagered over $130K in the past four years – two at Indiana and two at Cincinnati – including at least 40 bets placed on the Hoosiers’ football team while he was a member.
That was widely thought to be the kiss of death for Sorsby’s college career. The NCAA ruled him permanently ineligible and denied Texas Tech’s reinstatement request, leaving his lawsuit against the association as his last path to suiting up for the Red Raiders this year.
The lawsuit itself would not be resolved before the season, so Sorsby sought an injunction to restore his eligibility as the legal process played out. He is entering his fifth and final college season, so winning the injunction could allow him to play this year and declare for the 2027 NFL Draft before the case is resolved and essentially escape punishment from the NCAA. The NCAA is seeking an “accelerated appeal,” on the injunction, per ESPN’s Max Olson, though there is no guarantee that it is resolved before the season.
Sorsby was not expected to succeed in the injunction hearing in Lubbock County District Court last week. He needed to show that he had a strong chance of eventually winning the lawsuit, and by his own admission, he broke the NCAA’s clear and inviolate gambling rules. His legal team argued that his diagnosed gambling and anxiety disorders made him protected under the NCAA’s constitution. The association contended that it did consider Sorsby’s mental health but it should not grant him an exception to the consequences of his gambling infractions which undermined the integrity of college sports.
Judge Ken Curry sided with Sorsby, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, ruling that he “demonstrated a probable right to relief on his claims.” He also wrote that the 22-year-old would “suffer a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury” if he cannot suit up for the Red Raiders this fall, citing Sorsby’s personal development, Texas Tech’s success, and his ability to “make an informed decision regarding whether or not to enter the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft.”
The NCAA released a statement expressing its disagreement with the ruling and concern about “the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports.” Sorsby’s lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler called it a “just result,” noting that the two-game suspension that is part of the ruling was their original offer to the NCAA.
The rest of the college sports world was left stunned by the decision, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Other schools are already organizing their opposition, per Seth Emerson and Ralph E. Russo of The Athletic, with Nebraska and Georgia issuing mandates to their athletic programs to no longer schedule Texas Tech.
Internal discussions about already-set matchups are ongoing. The Big Ten, of which Nebraska is a member, is expected to consider a conference-wide ban on scheduling Texas Tech in any sport, Thamel adds. Kansas State, which is in the same conference as Texas Tech, is having “serious discussions” about the situation, athletic director Gene Taylor said (via Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellinger), calling it “greater than the Big 12.”
Sorsby is now on track to play for the Red Raiders this season, which would take him out of the supplemental draft, though he could still consider that route. The NFL has set a June 22 deadline to enter the supplemental draft. If the NCAA wins its initial appeal before that date, he can still go pro this year. However, if he does not apply for the supplemental draft and loses that appeal – or a subsequent one to the Texas Supreme Court, per veteran NFL reporter Charles Robinson – after June 22, he may be forced to take a year away from the field and enter the 2027 NFL Draft.
If Sorsby’s saga were to twist back toward the NFL’s supplemental draft, he could go for a second-round pick, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. A successful year at Texas Tech could put him in the first-round range in 2027. But teams will still have significant questions about his betting history and commitment to his treatment for his mental health issues, which are also a term of the injunction. Talent often wins out, especially if Sorsby can show he has put his gambling behind him, but it could be a red flag clubs opt to avoid with a strong slate of quarterback prospects set to go pro next year.
Browns HC Todd Monken Not Interested In QB Brendan Sorsby; Latest On Team’s QB Competition
Browns head coach Todd Monken is not tipping his hand when it comes to his team’s starting quarterback competition. While the media currently views Deshaun Watson as the favorite to open the season under center, second-year passer Shedeur Sanders remains in the mix and has impressed Monken with his progress in the mental side of the game.
Following the Browns’ eighth OTA session on Wednesday, Monken said (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com), “[e]very day I kind of lean one way or the other with quarterbacks. But we’ve still got to get to that point. Who’s going to start for us? But I’m fired up by the quarterbacks. I just tell you, we’ve got two starting-level quarterbacks. We really do.”
Monken’s public remarks notwithstanding, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler continues to believe Watson has the inside track on the QB1 gig (video link). In addition to the advantage Watson has in terms of experience, Watson himself believes Monken’s offense – which includes some Air Raid concepts and offers the freedom to improvise out of the pocket – is a strong fit for his skill set. That said, Fowler says Sanders has flashed this spring and that Watson has not won the job just yet.
Regardless of the outcome of the Watson v. Sanders contest, Cleveland may still be in search of a high-end quarterback next year (which is presumably one of the reasons why the team recently cashed in their top asset in Myles Garrett for a bounty of draft capital). On paper, therefore, the Browns profile as a team that could take a flier on Brendan Sorsby, whose gambling infractions have led the NCAA to revoke his collegiate eligibility and who could be forced into the NFL’s supplemental draft as a result.
Monken, however, seems to want no part of Sorsby, although he made it clear his opinion in that regard is his own and not that of general manager Andrew Berry or other members of team brass.
“That’s not even come across my desk,” Monken said (video link via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan). “I like the quarterbacks that we have. I think that’s a slippery slope, when you go down that [road]. Irrespective of talent, in terms of the situation [Sorsby’s] put himself in, we all know what that is. He put himself in that situation. And we’ve seen in other sports with players that have been banned for life from playing in professional sports.”
“Again, that’s a question for [Berry] and for management,” Monken added. “But from my end of it, kind of a tough angle to go down that road and think that’s going to be your franchise quarterback, if he’s ever eligible to even play in the NFL.”
Berry himself was non-committal. When asked about the prospect of adding Sorsby, the GM simply said, “we’ll do work on all the prospects and then make the appropriate decision” (via Zac Jackson of The Athletic).
Sorsby impressed in his second year as Cincinnati’s starter in 2025 and landed a $6MM NIL deal to join Texas Tech in 2026. A successful year in Lubbock could have earned him a first-round grade in the 2027 draft, but at the moment, it appears the supplemental draft is his only viable path to the pros.
Sorsby will have to 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.
QB Brendan Sorsby Preparing For Supplemental Draft
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.
Texas Tech, QB Brendan Sorsby Appeal NCAA Decision
As expected, following the NCAA’s denial of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s reinstatement for the 2026 college football season, Sorsby’s team has filed an appeal. The team’s argument (via Ross Dellenger fo Yahoo Sports) leaned heavily on the framing of Sorbsy’s gambling problem as an issue of mental health and asked that, in lieu of the revocation of his remaining eligibility, the NCAA consider a two-game suspension.
In it’s denial, the NCAA stated that it “did not find any circumstances that warranted reinstating (Sorsby’s) eligibility.” By citing the specifics of Sorsby’s diagnosis and transgressions, the appeal attempts to paint the situation as one without precedent. In doing so, the team argues that the NCAA wouldn’t be following the precedent set by past players who have gambled and been caught; instead, it would be setting a new precedent for punishing a player who admitted to and sought treatment for his mental health disorder.
The team’s appeal obviously argues that Sorsby struggles from a gambling addiction, the mental health challenge that perpetuated his continuous activity, but the first instances of betting could not have been a result of a developed addiction, so they’ve framed that, too, within the scope of mental health.
As a report today from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and David Purdum detailed at least 2,900 bets at Indiana, alone, totaling more than $30K in wagers, including at least 40 bets on the Indiana football team and its players, Sorsby’s physician asserted that the quarterback’s first bets were the result of “an adjustment disorder with anxiety that caused him to place those bets to feel part of the team.”
That assertion seems to be coming from pretty far out of left field, but if they can successfully establish the ordeal as a result of Sorsby’s struggles with mental health, it will be difficult for the NCAA to continue denying his reinstatement. The team’s appeal cites the NCAA’s own mission statement, grabbing snippets such as “fostering (student-athletes’) lifelong well-being” and promoting “a culture of care.”
The appeal attempts to shift the focus of the punishment away from Sorsby’s transgressions and towards his ultimate decision to seek treatment. The appeal states that “imposing a career-ending sanction on Sorsby will send the message to current and future athletes hiding in the shadows of the stigma of mental health challenges and addiction that they need to stay silent and never seek help or treatment because the NCAA will take a punitive approach by automatically applying the maximum sanction.” By instead imposing only a two-game suspension, the appeal argues that the NCAA would “be sending an important signal to current and future student-athletes that seeking treatment for an addiction does not have to mean ruining your future.”
The release of the appeal and the documents detailing just how far Sorsby’s gambling went on the same day set up a battle of perception. The 40 bets he placed on his own team only totaled around $850, ranging from $1 to $114, but that represents only a microcosm of his habits. Utilizing “accounts registered in his name, a family member’s name, and friends’ names, Sorsby placed at least $90K in impermissible wagers” through four separate betting sites. He reportedly had to transfer up to $60K to friends in order “to cover bets made on his behalf.”
If Sorsby’s team is successful in convincing the NCAA to view the entirety of Sorsby’s gambling history as actions stemming from struggles with mental health, he stands a strong chance of getting to play out his tenure with the Red Raiders. To this point, though, the NCAA has been adamant that it will not negotiate a settlement to reinstate Sorsby. It will be interesting to see if the team’s mental health appeals successfully scare the NCAA away from its current conviction. Will it see a maximum sanction as disincentivizing future student-athletes from gambling or disincentivizing future student-athletes “from seeking the help they desperately need?”
NCAA Will Not Negotiate Settlement To Reinstate Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby
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.
NCAA Denies QB Brendan Sorsby 2026 Reinstatement; Appeal Expected
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.
QB Brendan Sorsby’s Injunction Hearing Date Set
The latest legal move by Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s team in his case against the NCAA seems to have produced the desired result. On Tuesday, Sorsby’s legal team filed an injunction in Lubbock County District Court in a move many viewed as an attempt to expedite the NCAA’s usually lengthy investigative process.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, “Sorsby’s eligibility case has been assigned a temporary injunction hearing set” to take place June 1. The date works well for Sorsby, who has requested a timeline that would allow him to hear a final decision in time to potentially declare for the NFL Supplemental Draft. The deadline to declare is June 22.
The case experienced a slight delay already when the judge originally assigned to the case, Judge Phillip Hays, recused himself, per Ryan Autollo of Bloomberg Law, based on the fact that he holds two degrees from Texas Tech and grew up in the area. Judge Ken Curry, a retired judge in Tarrant County over in Houston, was assigned to replace him yesterday, per Nakos. His degrees from UTSA and Houston made him less likely to approach the case with any inherent bias. Since retiring, Curry has continued to work as a visiting judge for Tarrant County.
Sorsby’s legal team is led by prestigious antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler, famed for his impact on cases touching all areas of the sports world like NIL, equal pay for the US Women’s National Soccer Team, and both the “Bountygate” and “Deflategate” controversies. If granted, Sorsby’s injunction could “feasibly allow him to play out the 2026 college football season” during the NCAA’s investigation. Sorsby’s team leaned on “potential damage to (Sorsby)’s mental health” as a precedent for the injunction.
Sorsby is fighting for his eligibility after the Red Raiders placed the transfer quarterback from Cincinnati on an “indefinite leave of absence” due to a gambling addiction. Sorsby’s team has admitted that the passer has placed “thousands” of sports bets since 2022, including several on a team he played for at the time he placed the bet. The NCAA has set guidelines that would potentially remove a student athlete’s eligibility permanently if they were to bet on their own sport or other sports at their own school. Sorsby has shelled out for the best representation money can buy in his situation, and they’re trying to move things quickly to set him up for whatever the courts decide.
QB Brendan Sorsby Files Injunction For 2026 NCAA Eligibility
With the deadline for entry into the NFL’s supplemental draft approaching, Brendan Sorsby‘s efforts to resolve the matter of his college eligibility continue. The latest development in this saga is a legal one.
Sorsby’s legal team has filed an injunction in Lubbock County, Texas, as detailed by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. A hearing for June 15 has been requested so that a ruling can be made in time for June 22. The latter date represents the deadline for players (most notably Sorsby) to enter the supplemental draft.
Given that short timeframe, an expedited resolution on the matter of Sorsby’s 2026 eligibility is being sought out. His legal team has long expected a rejection on that front, leading to the injunction as an anticipated next step. A statement from Texas Tech said the school plans to “quickly initiate the reinstatement process” for Sorsby, who included a signed affidavit in the court filing and worked out an “agreed-upon stipulation of facts” between himself, Texas Tech and the NCAA.
“The relief [being sought] is narrow: one student-athlete and one senior season,” the court filing reads in part. “The NCAA will suffer no cognizable harm from letting Mr. Sorsby play football while this case proceeds. But if this Court does not act, no future judgment can give Mr. Sorsby what the NCAA will have taken from him.”
The filing also states that Sorsby – who transferred to the Red Raiders and signed a lucrative NIL deal along the way – offered to accept a two-game suspension to begin the 2026 campaign provided he was reinstated for his senior campaign. The highly-touted quarterback is likely to face a far steeper punishment given the NCAA’s rules related to gambling. Sorsby admitted to placing small wagers on Indiana to win games during his redshirt freshman season. The wagers were not placed on any contests in which Sorsby played, and the filing claims the betting stopped in 2022.
Sorsby stipulated to making several other bets in recent years on non-football events, leading to the expectation he will not be reinstated by the NCAA. In that event, attention will turn to the matter of the supplemental draft. The low-profile event occurs on an as-needed basis for players no longer eligible to play in college, and Sorsby would represent the most noteworthy player taking part in the event in several years.
The 2027 QB draft class is expected to be led by Texas’ Arch Manning and Oregon’s Dante Moore, but several other passers are viewed as having a strong chance of being selected in the first round. On that note, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports Sorsby is widely seen as a top-50 prospect ahead of the 2026 season. Multiple evaluators Howe spoke with indicated Sorsby may have been drafted higher than Ty Simpson – who went 13th overall last month – had he been in the 2026 class.
Recent editions of the supplemental draft have come and gone without players being taken. Teams often prefer to retain their draft capital for the main event in April rather than losing it in the summer through the auction-style supplemental version. Sorsby could of course represent an exception, though, if teams view him as a starting-caliber passer at the pro level. The timeline along which clarity emerges in this case will be worth watching closely.
Brendan Sorsby Requests Expedited Resolution To Eligibility Issue From NCAA
The legal battle around the future of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has begun to take shape.
First up is an attempt to reinstate his NCAA eligibility. His lawyers requested an expedited resolution to that process, per Ross Dellinger of Yahoo Sports, seemingly with an expectation of being denied as they have also informed the NCAA of an “imminent” legal challenge.
Then there is Texas Tech, who gave Sorsby a $6MM NIL deal to transfer in from Cincinnati. The school has formed their own legal team to represent their interests (via Dellinger’s colleague, Charles Robinson), which include protecting their investment in Sorsby and getting it back if he is deemed ineligible.
Given the gambling allegations against Sorsby, escaping punishment of some sort seems impossible. But he and Texas Tech could push for a settlement with the NCAA that forces him to take a suspension but leaves him eligible for part of the 2026 season.
If the NCAA will not play ball, then Sorsby and Texas Tech may face off for his NIL money. The 22-year-old will then turn his attention to the NFL, who would have to approve his entrance into the supplemental draft. The league has done so in the past for players dealing with college eligibility issues, but increased scrutiny around their partnership with the gambling industry may require them to take a harder line. Sorsby could then pursue legal action against the NFL from an antitrust angle, a specialty of his lead attorney, Jeffrey Kessler.
Analysis of the situation has frequently referenced former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who lost his college eligibility for accepting money for autographs. The NFL accepted him into the supplemental draft but suspended him for the first five games of his career. The league could treat Sorsby similarly to deliver him some kind of punishment while also permitting him to continue his football career.