Why Is Pryor Playing In Tonight’s Sugar Bowl?

 Send This Story To A Friend

Tonight in New Orleans, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor will take to the field with his Buckeyes.  And every fan in America should be pulling for Arkansas to beat him.

Pryor is one of five OSU players found guilty of breaking rules, but allowed to play in tonight’s Sugar Bowl.  According to the NCAA, Pryor and crew didn’t know they were breaking rules when they sold off merchandise and memorabilia.

Only Pryor — and several other OSU players — have since said that they sure did know.

According to Jim Tressell, Pryor and the OSU Five had to promise to return for their senior seasons or else he wouldn’t play them in the Sugar Bowl.

Only Pryor has since said that he really gave no such promise.

Pryor is a star on one of America’s best brand name teams.  The OSU athletic department and the NCAA have bent over backwards to keep him eligible for tonight’s BCS bowl (not unlike a certain SEC, Heisman-wining quarterback on the nation’s top-ranked team).  But Pryor is either so stupid or so defiant that he can’t/won’t take their charity and keep his mouth closed.

Dan Wetzel of Rivals.com has penned an excellent — and lengthy — piece on Pryor.  Normally when someone is painted as being representative of all that’s wrong with college athletics, I roll my eyes, knowing that no story is ever all-black or all-white. 

Not this time.

Pryor and his cronies should not be playing tonight in New Orleans.  By taking the field they will make a mockery of the NCAA and the idea of “ethics” in collegiate sports.

I don’t know about you, but come 8:30pm ET tonight, I’ll be putting a plastic Hog hat on my head and pulling for the guys in cardinal.