What’s the best way to get a college football player to admit he cheated? Leave his NFL eligibility dangling.
That’s what happened this week before the NFL ruled Thursday former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor eligible for the league’s supplemental draft, which was delayed until Saturday.
The league only did so after Pryor admitted even more of cheating during his time with Buckeyes, which are already facing heavy NCAA sanctions for the tattoo scandal that cost Coach Jim Tressel his job.
Pryor can participate in the supplemental draft, but he has to sit out the first five weeks of the NFL season because he undermined the integrity of the draft. After all, Pryor was suspended for five games this season at Ohio State thanks to the year-long scandal that included him selling and trading his jerseys and other items to a tattoo artist who was being investigated by the feds.
The NFL originally did not make Pryor eligible for the NFL draft since he could have played half a season at Ohio State. However, that prompted Pryor to admit – or to announce that he admitted – to even more NCAA violations to prove he would have been made ineligible for the entire season. Apparently he took travel from his mentor whom the NCAA told him earlier to avoid.
Voila! He’s an even worse violator than we thought so he’s eligible for Saturday’s draft. Kudos to Pryor for finding a way to bend the rules. It’s funny how he came clean when it came to making a living. Then again, apparently he was making a living playing for the Buckeyes, or rather he was reaping the rewards for it.
You can say that the NFL should have banned him from the supplemental draft. But this outcome is better. Just when he thought he beat the system, he still has to face that five-game suspension that he promised Coach Tressel he would serve if he stayed with the Buckeyes. It’s as if NCAA President Mark Emmert and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell conferred on this.
What do you know? This could be the beginning of a great relationship. It may slow players from seeing the NFL as a safe haven from the NCAA. Even if Pryor found a way around the rules.
NFL: Pryor OK for supplemental draft [ESPN]
