The Brendan Sorsby issue ended with Cody Campbell off the hook for his needing to lead every college football parade. The month-long debacle led college football right to the cliff, with Campbell ready to give it the final shove. Reality finally set in for most of those involved, and we can move on to other college football common events like congressional legislation and other lawsuits.
Brendan Sorsby Takes Cody Campbell Off the Hook
Sorsby Moves On
Sorsby announced Monday night that he will be entering the NFL supplemental draft. In order to do so, he will need to sign paperwork forever renouncing his final year of college eligibility. There is no finding a local judge to give him an extra year in spite of all the rules and norms. The deadline for the NFL paperwork is this coming Sunday at midnight.
This was always the way the story should have ended, and it should have ended this way weeks ago. In the process, a lot of damage was done all around.
The Impact on the NCAA
The NCAA was stripped of what few teeth it still had in its mouth by a local judge who missed part of what it takes to get a temporary injunction. Yes, there was going to be irreversible damage done to Sorsby if he did not get the injunction preventing the NCAA from suspending him for the season. But Judge Ken Curry forgot that he is also supposed to measure the likelihood of Sorsby’s success at trial, which was slim and none.
The NCAA filed its appeal with the 7th Circuit, but that likely would not have been resolved until the virtual eve of the start of the season.
Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire took some superficial bruising when, in a speech in Houston, he acknowledged Sorsby’s gambling issues, but suggested that at least it was not as bad as other issues at other schools. The other issues at other schools he was referring to were matters being handled by local and state law enforcement officials. It was a poor comparison by a coach trying to protect his projected starting quarterback.
The fan base took some hits for being in a constant state of whataboutism and rationalization. The constant lines of, “Hey, what about those guys over there, or that other school,” sounded like excuses. The claim that Texas Tech had never committed to even playing Campbell once his gambling issues became clear meant they were spending too much time not reading available details.
The NCAA will still be looking into Sorsby’s gambling while at Cincinnati. What did the school know and when did they know it? But that will not happen quickly. That is the difference between investigating an individual who has admitted his “crimes” versus an entire program that turned a blind eye.
Texas Tech’s Responses
The football program and the school got verbally punched. No public relations professional ever would have thought that roundtable video was a good idea. The circling of the Red Raider wagons left huge gaps in the formation. It stopped being a credible claim that the well-being of Sorsby was the first priority long before the video. Threats to sue everyone involved on the other side made it clear that self-preservation for the program was job number one. And enlisting the help of the state attorney general to advance those threats made that abundantly obvious.
Speaking of Ken Paxton, ouch! The Senate candidate came out swinging in his role as the attorney general for Texas, writing an open letter to the NCAA, the Big 12 Conference, and others, threatening to use the weight of his state office to punish anyone who would take action against Texas Tech.
He got put back in year one of law school by the Big 12 attorneys. They filed a motion in federal court for a declaratory judgment that they had every right to follow the conference bylaws in a charter that all schools, including Texas Tech, approved. Paxton and attorneys for Texas Tech and Sorsby got boldly neutered Sunday night. Before we even got to Sorsby’s decision, the attorneys general of the states of Utah, Oklahoma, and Kansas backed the Big 12 attorneys over their Texas colleague.
Cody Campbell
And there is Campbell. He is on every side of most every issue of college sports, as long as he is given a forum to be heard. He quickly became the lead villain in this saga. That took some work.
Sorsby was forthcoming about his gambling only once the NCAA investigators were hot on his trail. He likely broke federal law and will potentially hear from the IRS about his unclaimed gambling wins and losses.
But Campbell was the self-appointed spokesperson for Sorsby, the school, the football program he pays for, the legal system, and anything else you can come up with. He has also been at the forefront of trying to push through the proposed Senate bill to strengthen the structure of college athletics. The two were often at opposite sides of the equation. It is quite a juggling act going to Washington, DC, to proclaim the NCAA and the conferences need antitrust exemptions to enforce their rules and then threatening to sue the same groups when they try to enforce those rules against your school.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game is a failed theory to try to square that circle. Yes, Campbell is on the Board of Trustees for Texas Tech. His funding of the athletic department makes him a de facto official of the school. But his role in this over recent weeks, as well as in Washington, made him an omnipresent voice who no one appointed.
He gave interviews where he was quick to threaten the NCAA and others. He wrote far too lengthy statements on official letterhead. He became a self-appointed vocal leader on all topics regarding Texas Tech, legal authorities, gambling addiction, the future of college sports, and more. His money bought him that voice at Texas Tech. But did it do the same on a bigger scale?
The Future
There is no guarantee Sorsby will be picked up by an NFL team in the supplemental draft. He is a decent, not great, talent with potential. And he and his branding image are deeply damaged by the last few weeks. There is a need to continue his therapy and counseling for his gambling addiction. That may be more than some NFL teams are willing to handle for someone who is a backup or even scout team quarterback.
But by Sorsby’s moving on, Campbell gets to have some quiet time. Or the college sports landscape gets quiet time from him. The Senate starts the markup process this week on the proposed college sports bill. There is a lot of negotiating still to be done. Campbell does not have a vote.
Main Image: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
