After a controversial exit from college football, Brendan Sorsby is aiming for a career in the NFL. His legal strife with the NCAA over violating g****** as a student-athlete is an unprecedented one. Yet, one expert believes he will be received like another controversial quarterback before him.

“Well, I do have another point to make here, and that is look at how many teams were in on Deshaun Watson,” Mary Kay Cabot said on June 17. “Despite what he had going on when the sweepstakes began, he had all of those accusations against him and people overlooked that, including the Cleveland Browns, because of what they saw in him as a quarterback.”

The veteran insider was in a conversation with Ashley Bastock and Dan Labbe for the Orange and Brown Talk podcast. 

Deshaun Watson, the 30-year-old Cleveland Browns’ veteran QB, was in the news over some serious off-field controversies. In 2021, Watson was charged with misconduct by 27 women and was subsequently sued.

He was embroiled in legal proceedings before he joined the Browns, who had traded him from the Houston Texans. Watson settled these lawsuits out of court. He was suspended for 11 games in 2022 for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell strongly condemned him and increased his suspension from 4 to 11 games. He was fined $5 million and underwent mandatory evaluation. 

Sorsby’s scenario is entirely different. The 22-year-old was under NCAA investigation for wagering on many teams across sports, including his team, the Indiana Hoosiers in 2022. 

Sorsby, who was last associated with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, countered the NCAA by filing a lawsuit. A Texas judge, Ken Curry, ruled in Sorsby’s favor in a landmark and unprecedented development.

This decision was met with endless scrutiny in the college football community. Tom Pelissero explained how the NCAA failed to assert its dominance in this situation. 

NFL Insider Explains How The NCAA Had Little Control Over Brendan Sorsby Fiasco

Tom Pelissero appeared on the Rich Eisen Show and discussed Brendan Sorsby entering the NFL with a g****** suspension. 

“They're trying to maintain some level of power as a governing body here. But what’s happening in court is you are repeatedly losing,” he said on June 17.

Sorsby countered the NCAA by filing a lawsuit seeking a temporary injunction, which Judge Ken Curry granted him.

“You are repeatedly suffering these setbacks that chips away at your power. You have the conferences trying to say, “Well, we should be able to punish a school for playing a guy who we don't think he should have been eligible in the first place.” And you have the other schools rebelling and talking about not scheduling Texas Tech,” Pelissero added.

Athletic directors across the Power 4 conferences threatened to boycott Texas Tech for backing Sorsby after the ruling. The Big 12 board of directors was completely at odds and filed a lawsuit against Texas Tech and Sorsby. 

Within hours, the program announced they “mutually parted ways” with Sorsby. The NFL is a major leap for the quarterback. Cabot believes his potential will triumph ultimately. There is reassurance on how this development transpires in the future. 

What are your thoughts on this comparison? Tell us in the comments. 

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Written by

Akanksha Biradar