Less than a couple of weeks ago, Brendan Sorsby received a temporary injunction, which would have allowed him to play in the 2026 season after serving a two-game suspension for the 9,000 bets he placed during his collegiate career. But Sorsby is no longer considering suiting up for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, given that the quarterback has declared for the NFL Supplemental Draft. Sorsby’s latest decision has pushed Shannon Sharpe to give a blunt assessment of the quarterback’s controversial career.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Sharpe said this week. “And I’m not asking this young man to be perfect because we’ve all been in situations through the course. I’m a little over a week away from being 58. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. It’s hard to say I’ve made 9,000 of them, though. Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, I might have made 9,000. I ain’t made 9,000 of the same damn mistake.”

Ahead of his fifth season after transferring to Texas Tech, court reports showed that the Texas Tech quarterback Sorsby placed bets worth around $90,000, including 40 bets on his own team while playing for the Hoosiers during his freshman year in 2022. Even though Sorsby vehemently denied placing any bets on the games that he played in, the situation didn’t change much for him.

“Once I became part of the active roster with an opportunity to play, I immediately stopped betting on Indiana. However, my gambling on other sports did not stop; it escalated and became compulsive. What started small when I was in high school turned into a daily habit of betting on all kinds of sports, including some sports that I didn’t follow and had no interest in like tennis and Romanian soccer. Gambling became an addiction.”

Subsequently, the NCAA revoked his eligibility to play for the Red Raiders in 2026. And while Sorsby received support from the university, he appealed the NCAA’s decision, adding in his letter to the NCAA how gambling became an addiction, pushing him to lose control of what he was doing.

“It became a habit for me to bet,” Sorsby wrote in a statement to the NCAA. “My betting became a compulsion, which made it virtually impossible to resist the constant notifications I received from betting apps. I lost complete control of my addiction. I now realize the apps controlled me and I did not control them.”

But the 22-year-old eventually lost the appeal as well, and ultimately sued the NCAA in Texas, as the case took a dramatic turn earlier this week when Judge Ken Curry granted Sorsby a temporary injunction, allowing him to suit up for the Red Raiders in 2026. In his ruling, Curry noted that Sorsby’s attorneys demonstrated the QB would suffer a “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if he’s unable to play or practice this fall.

But the ruling doesn’t actually guarantee his eligibility, given that Curry’s decision drew criticism, especially from Shannon Sharpe, who expressed frustration toward Sorsby not facing any consequences.

“In order for someone to learn a lesson, they had to have suffered some level of consequence. He (Sorsby) suffered nothing. He gets to play. Even after admitting that he bet almost $90,000,” Sharpe said.

Curry’s decision also led fellow Big 12 schools to boycott Texas Tech games. Per reports, Texas Christian University and Kansas State officials noted that other schools from the conference will not play against Texas Tech if Sorsby is allowed to participate as a Red Raider.

Gene Taylor, athletic director of the Wildcats, called the ruling “f—ing bulls–t,” and also noted that “there’s still a lot to be discussed. We aren’t scheduled to play them this year, but it’s something we have to look at from a college football perspective. This is greater than the Big 12.”

However, tensions escalated when the Big 12 considered invoking Section 3.6 of the conference’s bylaws to sanction Texas Tech. That prompted Attorney General Ken Paxton to send a notice to the Big 12 Board of Directors on the university’s behalf, warning that any punishment under Section 3.6 “would expose the Conference to substantial liability.”

“We are aware that the Big 12 is considering invoking Bylaw 3.6 of the Big 12’s Bylaws to sanction Texas Tech for respecting the Order and continuing its support of Mr. Sorsby as a student-athlete,” Paxton wrote. “This letter serves to notify the Big 12 that any such action would be unlawful and would expose the Conference to substantial liability.”

Subsequently, the Big 12 filed a lawsuit against Paxton and Texas Tech, seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief to allow the league to use its bylaws to potentially punish Sorsby. At the same time, the NCAA also asked the Lubbock County District Court to rule on its appeal before the college football season starts.

Amid all the legal complications and uncertainty over his eligibility to play for the Red Raiders, Brendan Sorsby has declared for the supplemental draft. He finished last season at Cincinnati, throwing for 2,800 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and five interceptions with 81.5 QBR. That said, multiple NFL teams could express interest in drafting Sorsby ahead of the 2026 season, especially the Arizona Cardinals, who don’t have any exciting option under the center, and the New York Jets, who still lack a relevant backup option for Geno Smith.