| 18 August 2011
It appears Terrelle Pryor will get a shot at his NFL dream in 2011 after all.However, he's going to have to sit out the first five games if any team is willing to draft him in Monday's NFL Supplemental Draft and then keep him on the roster during the suspension.
Why can't Pryor be in uniform for the first five games?
It seems the almighty NFL is going to apply the NCAA's five-game suspension to Pryor for his actions at Ohio State—none of which broke any laws.
According to the NFL:
"... Pryor made decisions that undermine the integrity of the eligibility rules for the NFL Draft. Those actions included failing to cooperate with the NCAA and hiring an agent in violation of NCAA rules, which resulted in Ohio State declaring him ineligible to continue playing college football.
"Pryor then applied to enter the NFL after the regular draft. Pryor had accepted at the end of the 2010 college football season a suspension for the first five games of the 2011 season for violating NCAA rules. Pryor will be ineligible to practice prior to or play in the first five games of the NFL regular season after he signs."
So now the NFL is the NCAA's daddy.
In reality, Pryor would have been lucky to see the field anyways in the first five games, much less the entire season. So call this a public perception suspension for the NFL. So now Pryor has to wait five games before he can wear a baseball cap backwards and hold a clipboard.
Everyone knows he's more of a project for an NFL team, not a contributor in 2011.
But Pryor got a quick lesson in what it means to be playing for The Shield. It's Roger Goodell's world and you better like it. What's startling about it is how arbitrary Goodell can be with his rulings. When it was Brett Favre sexting Jen Sterger, he got off with a slap on the wrist. Pryor tries to "feed his family," and he gets a stiffer punishment.
Something still seems very odd and inconsistent about carrying over a college punishment to the pros, especially when you consider Pryor did not break a single law.
With an offseason full of bad news and even worse news, maybe the NFL is offering the NCAA a little charity by honoring its suspension.
If Pryor was not desperate to get into the NFL he might consider suing them over this ruling. But it's just five games
Plus, no one ever disses the Commish and gets away with it. Just ask James Harrison.
