I have to admit, it's kind of fun this summer watching all the NCAA drama, particularly in football. The latest twist seems to be this report by ESPN that former Ohio St. Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor is now -- for lack of a better word -- searching for an NCAA violation that can credibly be attributed to him that has not been previously disclosed. If that sounds strange, read on.
Because Pryor did not declare for the NFL draft earlier this year and was otherwise eligible, he would not normally be allowed to enter the supplemental draft unless he can prove that something changed in regards to his eligibility to play in college next year. Pryor had already been suspended for the first five games of what would have been his senior season next year before the draft, and nothing about that has changed, except for the fact that Pryor withdrew from school and declared himself to essentially be a professional, signed with an agent, sought and was granted a declaration of ineligibility (and got dissociated for five years as well) from Ohio State.
Apparently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell isn't all that interested in seeing Pryor enter the supplemental, and I'm not quite sure why. He is invoking the subjective restrictions to supplemental entry and has not placed Pryor on the approved list of yet, and there is enough confusion in the matter that the NFL has put off the supplemental draft for a couple of days.
So now, apparently, Pryor is trying to manufacture another NCAA violation that he can claim would have rendered him ineligible for next year even without the action by OSU, in order to get around the problem. He's happy to chuck his old school under the bus in order to create an end-run around the recalcitrant NFL commissioner.
But Goodell is no hero here, either. As Chris Mortensen of ESPN points out, there is really no good reason for Goodell to keep Pryor out of the supplemental -- it isn't like an NFL team is going to invest too much money in such damaged goods until he has proven something on that level.
Not a lot of ethics heroes to be found in this bunch, it seems. Pryor is hunting for something that the NCAA will declare an undisclosed violation so he can claim something has changed, and couldn't care less about what that does to his alma mater. If OSU fans don't detest Pryor by now, I can't figure out why. What a loser.
Pryor did wrong to himself, wrong to Jim Tressel and wrong to OSU. But for his actions and the actions of a few of his lawless comrades, Tressell would still have a job, Ohio State would still be a program in good standing, and we would all have less to talk about.
Note to Roger Goodell -- for the love of God, man, let this guy into your stupid draft. Please. Take him off our hands so the next thing we hear about him is how he is moving into Michael Vick's old residence. My guess is that he won't last long, because he is too addicted to the short cut to do anything the right way.