NFL Rejects Admitted Gambling Addict Sorsby
Mike Goodpaster Published 24/06/2026
The NFL has turned down the application from Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby to enter the league's Supplemental Draft. Sorsby was ruled ineligible by the NCAA after an investigation uncovered that he had made thousands of bets and wagered thousands of dollars on sports. These bets included wagers on his own team.
The current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA allows the league to decide whether to hold a supplemental draft. League officials informed Sorsby that they were concerned that he had originally fought the NCAA ineligibility ruling and worried whether he'd respect NFL regulations regarding gambling on sports by players.
The NFL puts Sorsby on notice
NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo were able to obtain a letter that NFL attorney Lawrence P. Ferazani Jr. sent to Sorsby. The letter was informing the QB that the league wouldn't be holding a supplemental draft to accommodate Sorsby's entry into the league.
NFL officials were unimpressed by Sorsby's last-minute attempt to apply for a supplemental draft spot. The league was also unhappy with the legal manipulations that Sorsby undertook while seeking reinstatement to play the 2026 NCAA football season.
"The League has not conducted such a draft for several years and, prior to your submission, the League had no plans to do so this year, as no other player has sought entry," the NFL's management council said in a letter to Sorsby, obtained by Rapoport. "Your Petition - filed three business days before the deadline, without any supporting information or documentation, and only after abandoning your recent litigation efforts to avoid NCAA sanctions - does not provide a basis for the League to alter those plans.
"The issues presented by your Petition are too significant, and too closely tied to the League's core integrity interests, to permit meaningful review within the timeline presented."
Sorsby took the NCAA to court
Originally tipped off by law enforcement officials to Sorsby's gambling habits, the NCAA launched its own investigation into the quarterback's actions. Court documents indicated that Sorsby had engaged in making thousands of bets worth a total value of $90,000. He was even found to have wagered on Indiana Hoosiers football games while a quarterback for the Hoosiers.
The NCAA would ultimately rule Sorsby ineligible for the 2026 football season. He had taken it upon himself to enter a gambling treatment facility. Through his lawyers, Sorsby was seeking to gain reinstatement by acknowledging his addiction to gambling, citing it as an illness and not an activity that should deprive him of his chance to play college football.
In a Lubbock, Texas, court on June 8, Sorsby won a temporary injunction that would have allowed him to play for Texas Tech this season. However, after learning that the NCAA was appealing that ruling and that the Big 12 Conference was preparing to level sanctions against Texas Tech, Sorsby dropped his lawsuit. It was then that he announced his intention to apply for the NFL Supplemental Draft.
Sorsby will be eligible for the 2027 NFL Draft
In its letter to Sorsby, the NFL also pointed out that he had not specifically addressed his gambling issues during his draft application.
They also expressed concern that Sorsby did not “demonstrate accountability for your conduct or indicate whether, or how, you would adhere to the League’s rules and policies governing the integrity of competition.”
The letter concluded by telling Sorsby, “We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL Annual Draft.”
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