Back in April, I brought you the saga of Brendan Sorsby, the Texas Tech transfer quarterback who admitted to gambling on his own team and, as a result, went into treatment. I wrote:
Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was one of the hottest transfer players this offseason. Now his college career is in jeopardy because of gambling. The university announced on Monday that Sorsby has entered a residential treatment program for gambling addiction.
“Sorsby's decision to seek treatment, according to sources, came in the wake of the discovery of Sorsby making thousands of online bets on a variety of sports via a gambling app, which jeopardizes his eligibility with Texas Tech,” reports ESPN.
“According to sources, Sorsby bet on Indiana football while redshirting for the Hoosiers as a true freshman in 2022, a season in which he played in a single game as a reserve,” the report continues. “The bets in 2022, according to sources, were on Indiana to win and none came in a game in which Sorsby appeared.”
Once Sorsby left treatment for his gambling addiction, he expected to return to Texas Tech’s roster. The NCAA denied him reinstatement, and the school appealed. A judge granted a temporary injunction that allowed Sorsby to return to the team with a slap-on-the-wrist two-game suspension.
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The fallout was swift and astonishing. The Big Ten considered a ban on playing Texas Tech altogether. Athletic directors at other schools reacted strongly.
Kansas State AD Gene Taylor memorably called the judge’s ruling “f*****g b******t” and added, “We’ve had some serious conversation about it. There is still a lot to be discussed. We aren’t scheduled to play them this year, but it’s something we have to look at from a college football perspective. This is greater than the Big 12.”
“I think there needs to be serious conversations about not playing Texas Tech in any sports,” University of Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger. “We cannot in good conscience put our student-athletes on a field where the competitive integrity of the contest is compromised and overridden by the courts.”
By mid-June, both Sorsby and Texas Tech realized the problems that this saga was causing for the school and its football program. Sorsby agreed to drop his lawsuit against the NCAA and part ways with Texas Tech, opting to enter the NFL Supplemental Draft.
An easy and relatively graceful out, right? Not so fast.
On Tuesday, the NFL announced that it would decline to hold a supplemental draft for 2026, citing the Sorsby controversy. ESPN reports:
The NFL's decision came down to its right to decide whether to hold a supplemental draft, per the collective bargaining agreement, as league officials said they believed it would ultimately become a distraction to teams as they begin training camps.
"His application carries with it a lot of issues," an NFL source told ESPN. "Core of the game integrity issues."
Here’s the NFL’s letter to Brendan Sorsby, informing him it is declining his petition to enter the supplemental draft, which will not be held this year. pic.twitter.com/Tfoei8fCjp
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 23, 2026
Sorsby and his counsel maintain that this decision violates the league’s collective bargaining agreement and are appealing to the NFL Players’ Association. In the meantime, Sorsby remains ineligible to play football at the collegiate level and is looking toward the 2027 NFL Draft.
There are plenty of differing opinions on the ethics of gambling among college athletes. As you’ve probably guessed from my other writings on the subject, I’m not a big fan of it. But in Sorsby’s case, I would think more people would view his behavior as beyond the pale rather than acceptable.
The Brendan Sorsby saga is a reminder that college sports’ gambling problem is not going away just because people would rather look the other way. At PJ Media, we keep digging into the stories the legacy media treats like an inconvenient fumble on the goal line.
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