Sorsby Folds: Admitted Gambler Drops Legal Battle for Final College Season To Join NFL

Within minutes of Brendan Sorsby’s stunning announcement that he was ending his high-stakes legal battle with the NCAA to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft; speculation quickly turned to what NFL teams might want his services.The Cleveland Browns, the New York Jets, the Miami Dolphins, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are searching for a young, franchise quarterback. Whether these teams are willing to — pardon the expression — gamble on a quarterback with an admitted sports gambling addiction won’t be answered until the draft is held next month.What will remain unanswered for a longer duration are deeper, systemic questions raised by his landmark legal challenge. Chief among them is whether the NCAA possesses the authority to impose career-ending penalties on student athletes for betting on their own teams. Furthermore, the case brought into question whether power conferences can use their internal by-laws to penalize member institutions that defy rigid NCAA regulations.Mr. Sorsby’s legal team, headed by Jeffrey Kessler, successfully won a temporary restraining order earlier this month against the NCAA imposing a lifetime ban against Mr. Sorsby for his gambling history.Mr. Kessler argued before the District Court in Lubbock County that Ms. Sorsby had a diagnosed mental health addiction and anxiety-driven compulsion. Mr. Kessler pointed out his client, who played for two years at Indiana and two years at Cincinnati before transferring to Texas Tech, completed a month-long stay in a residential treatment program in Arizona. The lawyer also told the court that not allowing Mr. Sorsby to play this season would hurt his mental health and impede the progress of his recovery.Central to the argument was the difference in the way the NCAA handles substance abuse issues with drugs and alcohol compared to behavioral flaws. The NCAA emphasizes treatment and offers a path back to competition for those battling with substance abuse while admitted gamblers seeking help can receive a lifetime ban.The questions aren’t going away with the rising prevalence of sports gambling on college campuses.A founder of the Center on Collegiate Gambling based at the University of Mississippi, Daniel Durkin, told The New York Sun that the injunction sent the wrong message to student athletes. “While I empathize with Brendan Sorsby and support his continued recovery from gambling addiction, colleges and universities are confronting a growing a gambling problem,” Mr. Durkin said. “Clear standards are essential to protecting both student well-being and the integrity of competition. Addiction deserves treatment and compassion. However serious gambling violations must also carry meaningful consequences. College sports need stronger, not weaker, messages about the risks of gambling,” he said.Those opposed to Mr. Sorsby playing college football this season issued a collective sigh of relief over not having to deal with the issue. “It’s been a challenging week for both our Conference and the college athletics landscape,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement. “The Big 12 looks forward to moving ahead as 16 (schools) strong. We wish Brendan Sorsby success in his future endeavors.”While the NCAA and athletic conferences wait for another courtroom to affirm their ability to police sports gambling, Mr. Sorsby hopes to find an NFL team that can trust in his recovery after admitting making bets totaling $90,000 during his time as a college athlete. Included were 40 bets on Indiana while a freshman in 2022, though he didn’t play in any of those games for the Hoosiers.This will be a test case for a league that prohibits betting on NFL games or events, no gambling while with the team, and no sharing of non-public information. Suspensions have ranged from six games to the one-year ban, imposed on Calvin Ridley for the entire 2022 season after he placed bets on NFL games while on a non-football injury list.Mr. Sorsby has until June 22 to declare his eligibility for the Supplemental Draft, which began in 1977 for players who either graduated or exhausted their eligibility. Since 1993, the NFL has opened entry into the Supplemental Draft to players who have faced adversity, including disciplinary action. Just 46 players have been drafted during the Supplemental Draft since 1977. Some notable selections include quarterback Bernie Kosar and wide receivers Rob Moore and Cris Carter.Unlike the regular NFL draft, the Supplemental Draft uses a blind bidding system where the team with a bid in the highest round with the highest pick acquires the player and forfeits the corresponding pick in the following NFL draft.

Sorsby Folds: Admitted Gambler Drops Legal Battle for Final College Season To Join NFL

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