Wetzel: Brendan Sorsby and college football's first major modern gambling scandal
Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby's decision to get treatment for gambling addiction feels like an inevitable result of a sports betting boom. The NCAA has to hope it doesn't get worse.
Pete Thamel reports on Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby entering a gambling addiction program and explains why his re-eligibility is in jeopardy. (1:37)
Since the widespread legalization of sports wagering, NCAA gambling scandals have mostly involved low-major programs involving obscure games and insignificant prop bets.
A first half over/under, for example, for a North Carolina A&T-Delaware men's basketball game.
That changed Monday when ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that the NCAA is investigating Texas Tech transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby , for making "thousands of online bets on a variety of sports via a gambling app." Suddenly, a Heisman hopeful for a College Football Playoff contender is in the headlines.
Sorsby, 22, has checked into a residential treatment program, the school announced Monday, to address a gambling addiction. Everyone should hope that he gets the help he needs. Addiction in any form, including sports wagering, can wreck a life whether they had a highly paid football career or not.
And that career is very much in jeopardy, at least at the college level.