Quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s lawyer is ready to fight the NFL. Sorsby has to decide whether that’s what he wants to do.
The NFL didn’t want Sorsby in the league this year. In lieu of suspending him after the supplemental draft (like the NFL did to Terrelle Pryor in 2011), the league refused to conduct a supplemental draft. It’s the same result as a full-season suspension; Sorsby is frozen out until 2027.
Sorsby could activate the Jeffrey Kessler option. Kessler has already declared that the NFL’s action “violates the CBA and the law.” Moreover, Kessler issued a statement that sharply contradicts the narrative the NFL spun in its Tuesday letter to Sorsby.
Still, even if the arguments against the NFL refusing to conduct a supplemental draft have merit, Sorsby has to want to keep fighting. He surely incurred a mountain of legal fees in the lawsuit against the NCAA — which he won before Texas Tech nudged him to drop the case and go to the NFL. How much more will it cost to challenge the NFL in court?
Then there’s the reality that the NFL has been known to hold a grudge. They don’t want him in the league this season. If he fights and wins, there could be ramifications. Even if ordering Code Red as to the erstwhile Red Raider would amount to collusion, who’s to stop the NFL from putting out the word that whoever drafts Sorsby will be viewed dimly by 345 Park Avenue?
The NFL wants a pound of flesh. If Sorsby keeps the league from getting it, the NFL will still want it. Despite the very real possibility that the refusal to conduct a supplemental draft violates the CBA, Sorsby’s best move could be to accept the outcome and to prepare for April.
He has become a pincushion in many circles, with folks viewing his gambling history as a Paul Crewe-level affront to the integrity of sport. Those who have decided to view Sorsby as a pariah don’t want to broaden the lens when it comes to the current culture, with Sorsby nothing more than a finite example of one of the many young men who have been bombarded by sportsbook ads and sports-media figures urging them to “bet! bet! bet!”
Sorsby can use the next year to devise a P.R. plan aimed at humanizing himself. He can embrace the cautionary tale his story has created, visiting high schools and colleges to explain that, even if everyone else is betting, athletes need to steer clear.
He also can sit for an interview in which he explains what happened. What he did, how he did it, why he did it.
And, more importantly, what he didn’t do. Earlier this week, agent Ron Slavin said Sorsby never bet on college football once he started playing. That would be something useful for Sorsby to say, directly. Along with everything else about the extent of his gambling.
Is it fair that the NFL is keeping him out of the supplemental draft? No. Could the NFL be violating the CBA and/or Sorsby’s legal rights? Yes. Still, if he hopes to have a career in the NFL that spans 10 to 15 years, there’s a point at which the best play could be to hold his nose and swallow the bitter pill.
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