With the NFL supplemental draft set for Wednesday, Terrelle Pryor is still in a holding pattern. Should the NFL make the former Ohio State quarterback eligible?
This is a complicated situation. What made Pryor ineligible -- a decision to sign with an agent and leave school -- was of his own doing; it's not a situation where he failed out or was thrown off a team.
And the circumstances with him hiring an agent -- the whole memorabilia scandal at Ohio State -- were of his own doing. And when you read the section of the CBA as it relates to eligibility for entering the supplemental draft, it's not hard to conclude that Pryor's situation is not the norm. The NFL knows this, otherwise Pryor would have been ruled eligible last week.
Clearly there are members of the league's legal team and football operations staff who feel Pryor's eligibility is in question. It's also true that many of the agents who recruited Pryor advised him that he couldn't bank on the supplemental draft or the NFL at all for 2011, and would have pushed him to play in Canada for a season, at least.
Now he's caught in a tricky legal situation that could result in the NFL being closed entirely to him in 2011.
At this point, I think the NFL should allow Terrelle Pryor into the supplemental draft. There was no way he was returning to Ohio State. From what I understand, Ohio State was looking to move on from Pryor. There have been a number of guys in the supplemental draft in my years in the NFL who were there because of mistakes they made. If Ohio State says Pryor was done, then let him in the draft.
Here is the better question: Should we care?
If we have spent a minute thinking about this, we have already wasted too much time on the issue. I do not want to be one of those misguided people who believes the elite college football player cares about his education. But at the same time, we should not reward people who do not follow the rules.
The best possible solution would be to cut to the chase and fast forward Pryor's career to the point where he is the latest reclamation project of the Eagles.
Pryor should be allowed to enter the supplemental draft due to the circumstances surrounding his departure from Ohio State. He was deemed ineligible by the university after Jan. 15, and that should grant him status for entry into the NFL. While there are a number of technicalities that affected his status prior to that date, he should have the opportunity to move forward with his career as a pro based on his inability to continue playing as a collegian.
I'm not sure I care. For a guy who I don't think is ever going to light the NFL on fire, why Terrelle Pryor gets so much pub is anyone's guess. Should he be allowed in the supplemental draft? Probably. The lines are blurred in the NCAA, and while Pryor's suspension is the major roadblock to his draft eligibility, it still seems to all be built on a straw house. Even if he is declared eligible for the supplemental draft (which I believe 60-40 will happen), I still don't see any major significant to it from a on-the-field standpoint. As many of you fans out there know, the pro game is drastically different than the college game. For all the prospects who've surprised us, there are plenty of Rick Mirer, Akili Smith and Browning Nagle stories to go around.
By the way, Bernie Kosar was a supplemental draft pick. I don't think Pryor has a Kosar-esque career.
