{"id":331614,"date":"2026-06-11T03:49:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T03:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/331614\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T03:49:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T03:49:22","slug":"a-texas-judge-went-too-easy-on-brendan-sorsby-after-the-ncaa-banned-him-for-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/331614\/","title":{"rendered":"A Texas judge went too easy on Brendan Sorsby after the NCAA banned him for gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there were anything like justice in college sports, Brendan Sorsby<\/a> would never play another down of football. It\u2019s a tough thing to say about someone only 22 years old, and under most circumstances, I\u2019d never argue that misdeeds should end an athlete\u2019s career before they hit the professional ranks.<\/p>\n

But Sorsby, Texas Tech\u2019s star quarterback, isn\u2019t an average college kid who made a mistake. He bet at least $90,000 on sports \u2014 including on games involving the Indiana Hoosiers when he was on that team\u2019s roster as a freshman in 2022. For obvious reasons, the NCAA frowns upon such behavior<\/a> and rightly issued a permanent ban when it discovered what Sorsby did. Sorsby says he\u2019s been diagnosed with a gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

Sorsby says he\u2019s been diagnosed with a gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

But on Monday, retired Texas judge Ken Curry, appointed to the case after another judge recused himself, gave Sorsby a pass<\/a> with a temporary injunction that will allow him to play this season. Curry reasoned that the injunction was necessary to avoid \u201cprobable, imminent and irreparable injury\u201d to the quarterback\u2019s college football career. But the judge is mischaracterizing the consequences of Sorsby\u2019s actions as injury.<\/p>\n

Those who have watched college football scandals over the decades should be especially incensed by the judge\u2019s ruling that Sorsby should play. His transgressions are exponentially worse than those of Reggie Bush, who was forced to forfeit his Heisman Trophy<\/a> in 2010 for rules violations he allegedly committed while at the University of Southern California, and exponentially worse than Ohio State University\u2019s Terrelle Pryor<\/a>, who was suspended for receiving free tattoos and selling his memorabilia. Granted, those punishments were imposed in a bygone era when the NCAA still stood on the farce that players, the labor in its multibillion-dollar enterprise, were amateurs and all but forced them to the black market to profit from their work.<\/p>\n

Those infractions from Bush and Pryor were metaphorical misdemeanors relative to the near-treasonous offense Sorsby committed against the NCAA. The integrity of the games, or at least the appearance thereof, are crucial for the association\u2019s survival. Thus, its strict prohibition against gambling and its promise of a kind of death penalty (a lifetime ban) for athletes who gamble anyway.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPlay<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Sorsby acknowledged a gambling addiction<\/a>, a serious mental health issue that warrants professional treatment, and to his credit, he reports that he recently sought a 35-day rehab at an inpatient clinic in Arizona. Gambling addiction can cause immense harm to the afflicted and those around them. It\u2019s also a compulsion whose victims often relapse, which isn\u2019t something someone in Sorsby\u2019s position can afford, even once.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKeith Reed\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKeith Reed is an award-winning\u00a0journalist and a past senior editor at ESPN. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Root, Vibe, Essence and elsewhere.\t\t<\/p>\n

\"MS<\/p>\n

\u00a9\u00a02026 Versant Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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