The Pittsburgh Steelers were interested in Brendan Sorsby.
Unfortunately, the NFL is not interested in having the former college-football prospect in its league.
The NFL will not hold a supplementary draft for the ineligible former Cincinnati, Texas Tech and Indiana quarterback who placed more than $90,000 in bets on his teams during his college tenure.
Sorsby was set to play at Texas Tech, after he finished as the second-team All-Big 12 quarterback while at Cincinnati last season, and was ruled eligible by the NCAA.
But his potential return sparked an outrage throughout the NCAA, who threatened to boycott Texas Tech in all sports if Sorsby were on the roster.
The NFL Denied Brendan Sorsby’s Request for a Supplemental Draft
GettyBrendan Sorsby was set to become the next Texas Tech QB before the NCAA intervened.
The Steelers had “looked into” Sorsby as a potential option via the supplemental draft, which was reportedly slated to go off in July.
However, the NFL reportedly denied Sorsby’s application for a supplemental draft, due to his admitted gambling.
“His application carries with it a lot of issues,” an NFL source told ESPN. “Core of the game integrity issues.”
NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero shared the league’s memo to Sorsby on X (formerly Twitter), which confirmed the league’s ruling.
“The league had no plans to [conduct a supplementary draft] this year,” the memo said. “Your Petition — filed three business days before the deadline, without any supporting information or documentation, and only after abandoning your recent litigation efforts to avoid NCAA sanctions — does not provide a basis for the League to alter those plans.”
Sorsby had been banned by the NCAA, but his case against the governing body was overturned by judge who ruled him eligible. That ruling set off a firestorm of media and around college sports, and led the Big 12 to file a countersuit and ultimately led the QB to seek a supplementary draft.
“Public sources indicate the NCAA issued a determination declaring you permanently ineligible from participation in college athletics, based on a sustained pattern of improper gambling activity during your collegiate career at three different universities,” the memo continued.
“Your memo does not demonstrate accountability for your conduct or indicate whether, or how, you would adhere to the League’s rules and policies governing the integrity of competition,” the memo went on. “Instead, even after receiving notice of the NCAA’s decision rescinding your college eligibility in May, you sought to avoid the consequences of that determination through litigation rather than accepting responsibility for your actions, and you pursued entry into the NFL only after abandoning those efforts.”
The Steelers Could Have Used Brendan Sorsby
GettyMike McCarthy was hired to help the Steelers’ young quarterbacks.
Sorsby was, at worst, a second-round prospect, who some have deemed a potential first-rounder.
Numerous teams were linked to Sorsby, including the Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets and even Philadelphia Eagles.
But the Steelers were one of the clubs who deemed him talented enough to succeed Aaron Rodgers, who has publicly stated this will be his final NFL season.
The question, of course, is whether the Steelers would have taken a flier on the ultra-talented QB if a supplemental draft were held.
But that’s moot for now. In the meantime, the Steelers will ride with Will Howard and Drew Allar as their backups to Rodgers, while monitoring the Sorsby situation, since his legal team has threatened action against the NFL.
“[This] is a violation of the CBA and the law,” Sorsby’s attorney Jeffrey Kessler told ESPN. “We will pursue this immediately with the NFLPA.”
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