Brendan Sorsby will not let the NFL’s latest ruling deter him from playing professionally, and at least one person has warned that the ensuing legal battle will be ugly.
On Tuesday, the abortive Texas Tech quarterback received a letter from the league office informing him that no supplemental draft would be held next month, essentially rejecting his application. It explained:
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“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.
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“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.”
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Since then, Jeffrey Kessler, Sorsby’s attorney, has threatened to sue the NFL over the decision, which he called “an unlawful action” in a statement:
Reacting to the development, veteran NFL writer Gary Myers issued this warning to commissioner Roger Goodell on social media:
“New York attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who has been a pain in the butt to the NFL for decades, is representing Brendan Sorsby. If this results in Sorsby vs. the NFL in court … it will be worth the price of admission.”
He also gave this reminder:
“Kessler represented Tom Brady in Deflategate in 2015, and managed to get his four-game suspension that season reversed until the NFL won on appeal in 2016. … Of course, Brady had the last word when he led the Patriots to the epic 28-3 comeback in the Super Bowl and Roger Goodell was forced to hand him the Super Bowl MVP Trophy.”
NFL may have averted the creation of a loophole by rejecting Brendan Sorsby’s supplemental draft application
In an opinion piece related to the Brendan Sorsby saga, ClutchPoints’ Troy Finnegan praised the NFL for denying the likes of him an opportunity to avoid repercussions for their offenses:
“It’s clear that Sorsby is only entering the supplemental draft to avoid the punishment that was likely coming from the NCAA. … If the NFL were to hold the supplemental draft, it would set a poor precedent for other players who lose their eligibility for disciplinary reasons, especially in a fashion that puts the integrity of the game of football in question.”
Sorsby’s next chance of entering the NFL will be at next year’s draft in Washington D.C.
Edited by Andre Castillo