What Brendan Sorsby Asks Society — and the NFL — to Decide
A Texas judge’s decision to allow an admitted gambler to play college football reflects the absurdity of 2026.
By Carron J. Phillips
Legalizing sports betting was always a risk. But no one thought a college football quarterback who gambled on his own team would be allowed to play again.
In the state that worships football, Judge Ken Curry recently ruled in favor of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s return to the field after the NCAA deemed him ineligible for admitting to wagering approximately $90,000 on sports over four years. Sorsby even placed 40 bets linked to his former team, Indiana. As of now, Sorsby’s punishment has been limited to missing the first two games of the Red Raiders’ season.
Pete Rose is rolling over in his grave.
The reaction from the university has been wild. Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire defended the decision by saying, “It’s crazy because it’s not murder, it’s not beating somebody.” The school’s athletic director believes that it’s the school’s job to “support his recovery, not to engineer his eligibility.” And the chair of the university’s board of regents is prepared to sue any schools or conferences that are planning on boycotting Texas Tech by not playing them. However, the icing on this cake of delusion was when school officials released a 20-plus-minute video in defense of their “integrity” and in “support” of Sorsby.
What is happening in Texas is just the latest chapter in a book that serves as proof that sports stories are never just “sports stories.” Though the judge’s ruling made this a legal matter, when the state’s attorney general warned the conference that it would be opening itself up to “substantial liability” if it took action against the school for playing Sorsby, this became a political issue.
Things escalated even further on Monday when the Big 12 Conference filed a federal lawsuit against Texas Tech and Texas Attorney General Kenneth Paxton in hopes that the higher courts will allow them to punish Sorsby.
If Sorsby couldn’t throw a football, the people involved wouldn’t care about his addiction.
“I’m waiting for someone to say or do the right thing, not the thing that is right for them to do,” sports reporter Mike Florio said, and highlighted that the court’s decision didn’t explain how the ruling was made. “No one is setting aside their own interest. No one is bothering to ask themselves, ‘what’s really right here?’” he added.
Ironically, in this scenario, the leaders of the NCAA — of all people — have come out of this looking like saints. One of this country’s worst sports governing bodies has been rendered powerless by the courts, magnifying its attempts to try to get Congress to clean up its messes. But two groups will ultimately decide if Sorsby is the beginning of the end of sports as we know it or whether a line will be drawn in the sand to preserve it. Those groups are society and the NFL.
“I would probably tell you that I think society has probably had a little bit of a change with respect to gambling in general. I think we still strongly oppose it in that room, and otherwise, legalized sports gambling,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell once said. “The integrity of our game is No. 1. We will not compromise on that.”
A lot has changed since Goodell made those statements in 2017. The NFL has suspended more than its fair share of players for violating the league’s gambling policy, culminating in five players being reinstated in 2024. Given that the NFL is a quarterback-hungry league, whether it be through the draft or free agency, the league -- before the start of the 2027 season – will have to discuss the possibility of Sorsby being on a roster.
Over the years, many troubled players have faced off-the-field issues in college. Though their past actions often affect their draft stock and salaries, talent trumps everything in the NFL — (whispers) unless your name is Colin Kaepernick.
“I hate to break it to you all. There are guys on the take right now. There are guys manipulating games right now in college basketball and professional sports. It happens all the time, and you still watch the games,” said Joel Anderson of The Ringer’s Tailgate Podcast as he took the faux outrage around Sorsby to task.
“I’m just sorry that I refuse to believe that you all believe this. That college sports can’t come back from this.”
We have long lived in a world where people can legally gamble on sports while simultaneously wanting to believe that those sports remain pure. The NFL can prepare now for how it will address the situation with Sorsby, but the political landscape already recognizes the seriousness of these issues, even if most prefer to avoid getting too involved. Recently introduced bipartisan legislation would require a multi-year federal study on gambling disorders, particularly focusing on the impact of online sports betting. A proposal from the Trump administration would set new federal regulations on prediction markets that would still allow most sports activity.
Jody Bechtold, the president of the International Problem Gambling and Gaming Certification Organization (IPGGC), said her colleagues refer to the legalization of gambling as “the next opioid epidemic.” Daniel Kaufmann, a director of gaming services, believes that winning isn’t what necessarily causes the dopamine rush that so often turns gamblers into addicts. “That hope is intoxicating,” he said. “That’s what the addiction is with gambling. It is a rewiring and manipulation of hope.”
Hope is a powerful concept, and it serves as the common thread in this entire situation. Brendan Sorsby hoped he would get away with gambling, and then he hoped a judge would allow him to play. Texas Tech is hoping to emerge from this situation with minimal damage. Meanwhile, society — especially the fans — hopes the issue will be resolved before the season starts so that they can enjoy the games as scheduled.
From sports to politics to the judicial system, a college quarterback whom most people had never heard of has illustrated just how rewired the brains of millions of people have become, all because this country is obsessed with a game that’s only played in America.
Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University. Follow his personal Substack to keep up with more of his work.
In times of the orange convicted felon, obviously anything is possible. His second election has made it so.