Don't blame the gaming industry or the NCAA if Brendan Sorsby's college football career is over

Don't blame the gaming industry or the NCAA if Brendan Sorsby's college football career is over originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

This is not the fault of any advertising agency, any media entity, any sports league nor even any online sports book. Given that Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is entering a residential rehab facility to address a gambling addiction, one might say it’s not entirely his fault, as well.

Texas Tech said all the right things in its press release about Sorsby's leave of absence, emphasizing its commitment “to supporting Brendan through his recovery process and to assure his long-term health and well-being.”

That may not be enough to get him on the field this autumn in a Red Raiders uniform. And it’s not a defense against the allegation that figures to be most problematic for him -- but neither is the prevalence of legal betting options available on a smart phone that are as handy as ordering a car ride or pizza.

It is too soon to declare what the ramifications should be regarding Sorsby's future as a college athlete, because we don’t have access to all the information related to his wagering activity: what sports he was betting, and what teams, and to what degree.

We do have access to the reporting of ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who wrote that Sorsby entered the rehab facility after it was discovered he’d made “thousands of online bets on a variety of sports”. Thamel’s sources told him that included wagers in 2022 on Indiana Hoosiers football – when Sorsby was a freshman on the IU squad.

That would be as problematic as it sounds. NCAA regulations state those college athletes who bet on their own teams – or even other sports played at their schools – face permanent ineligibility to compete in all NCAA-sanctioned sports.

Although the NCAA does not have much authority relating to college football, it still does establish eligibility to compete, from academic entry to medical hardship waivers to rules violations.

It is not too soon to dismiss all those who would blame this circumstance on those involved in the business of sports betting. That's a common theme among those who grew up in an America where this activity was illegal, in most instances, outside the state of Nevada. They’ll insist the leagues and media companies who accept sponsorship and advertising dollars clearly are asking for the sports they sponsor or broadcast to be corrupted by gambling activity.

It’s a fairly vacant position, but it’s popular.

This is too much like saying anyone who opens a pizza parlor is just asking for employees fielding payment to skim cash from the register, or any teacher assigning a paper is just begging students to use AI to write it for them.

Sports gambling has been an issue in America at least since the 1960s, when the great Paul Hornung was suspended for gambling on NFL games, including those of his Green Bay Packers, and Lions star Alex Karras was punished to the same degree. In 1970, Detroit Tigers ace Denny McLain lost a half season to a gambling suspension. And there was a point shaving scandal involving the 1978-79 Boston College basketball team that later sent Eagles forward Rick Kuhn to prison.

Prohibition prevented none of this, nor later issues with Arizona State basketball in the 1990s and the NBA and referee Tim Donaghy in the 1990s and 2000s.

In fact, the scheme involving Sun Devils basketball with guard Stevin “Hedake” Smith at the center was identified by legal books in Nevada, which led to multiple individuals receiving prison sentences. Since a Supreme Court decision in 2018 allowed other states to legalize sports wagering, sites have flagged concerns involving college baseball (that got one coach fired) and the NFL (which got a star player suspended a year).

Legalized sports wagering remains the strongest impediment and deterrent against illicit or illegal activity by those involved in the competition.

Sorsby had a fine year for Cincinnati in 2025, his second season with the Bearcats after transferring from Indiana. He threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns and rushed for another nine scores for a squad that finished the regular season 7-5. He entered the transfer portal when it opened and chose Tech, reportedly for a seven-figure sum. UC subsequently sued for $1 million, alleging breach of contract, an extremely uncommon maneuver given the prevalence of transfer athletes in high-profile college sports. In a curious bit of timing, his attorneys filed Monday to dismiss the case from U.S. District Court.

Entering a rehab facility to address addiction does not absolve Sorsby of the allegation about betting on IU. NCAA athletes are prohibited from wagering on sports at any level, but it’s most forbidden to do this involving one’s own team, even if, as also reported by Thamel, his wagers did not involve any games in which he competed.

There are so many sports events on which Sorsby could have wagered. (And maybe he did.) There certainly are enough to feed whatever addiction he was experiencing. Betting on his team wasn’t “necessary” in that sense. If it happened, the cost he should pay is both obvious and just.