Texas Tech Releases Propaganda Film On Brendan Sorsby’s Behalf

After a Texas court granted Brendan Sorsby an injunction against the NCAA's suspension of his eligibility due to his gambling activity, the reaction inside and outside of college sports was intense. At Texas Tech, they hear you and they're listening. That's why the school assembled a braintrust to record a 20-minute State of the Union address to assure the public that the school truly has the best of intentions, by welcoming a guy who gambled on his own team back into the fold.

To some, like the commissioners and athletic directors who have decried the judge's ruling and called for stern punishment for Sorsby in spite of it, it is a gross miscarriage of justice that an athlete could directly compromise his sport's integrity by betting on his own team's games but suffer little consequence. But to Texas Tech's braintrust—which includes Red Raiders football coach Joey McGuire, university president Lawrence Schovanec, senior associate athletic director for student-athlete health and wellness (whatever that means) Grant Stovall, and AD Kirby Hocutt—all of this is purely about the best way to treat Sorsby's mental illness, which would naturally involve the healing power of college football Texas Tech not having to eat its $6 million investment in Sorsby.

"He's made mistakes and he looked me in my eye this morning, again, and reassured me that he has done nothing to jeopardize the integrity of a game that he's competed in," Hocutt said in the video. "He has not given information about a game that he's competed in, he has not jeopardized the competition or affected the outcome of any game he's competed in."

Oh, OK! No more questions from me!

As outlined by the group, the conditions for Sorsby's return include him participating in outpatient clinical care, going to individual and group therapy on campus, and installing software on his phone that prevents him from using gambling apps. With only the judge's two-game suspension standing between him and the field, Sorsby's return seems like a lock, but coach McGuire claimed it's still too early to talk about him playing football. "It's day by day," McGuire said. "We have a long time before we have to think about when he's going to play football again. We have a long time to continue to work with him to help him with this addiction."

As goofy as it is to see coaches and administrators pretend anything in this sport is ever about the well-being of athletes, this is what college football programs do. They argue that football is the great healer, the best way to get closer to God. Whether you're gambling on your team, committing sexual assault, or stealing crab legs from, let's say a Publix, punishment is never the way to go. What these boys need is good old football discipline, and maybe a character-building trip to the playoffs, to really teach them some values. Questions about whether actions should have consequences, or whether putting a compulsive sports gambler in a high-pressure, adrenaline-drenched sporting environment but blocking the app store on his phone is a sound treatment plan, are irrelevant compared to the importance of making sure the best players can suit up on Saturday.

"Here's a young man with a dream and a vision to pursue a career," Schovanec said after acknowledging Sorsby's "mistakes." "We felt to not have the opportunity to pursue that career, given the circumstances and the evolving changes in this world that these athletes face, was unfair and unjust."

How brave of these men to take a stand.