Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby received temporary relief on Monday, June 8, allowing him to remain eligible for the 2026 season despite a gambling-related issue. It has brought back attention to Green Bay Packers linebacker Micah Parsons’ time in college.

Back in 2017, the Ohio State Buckeyes voluntarily reported an NCAA rules violation involving Parsons.

“Worth noting: Ohio State once stopped recruiting Micah Parsons after self-reporting an NCAA violation during his 2017 official visit, when he and his family were given restricted access to the College GameDay set,” per X post by the Buckeye Nut on May 7.

Before being the Dallas Cowboys' first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Parsons was a five-star recruit out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

And Ohio State was one of the top teams trying to recruit the star player. However, the recruitment came to a stop after the Buckeyes self-reported an NCAA violation involving Parsons during an official campus visit on September 9, 2017.

The violation started from a College GameDay visit to the Ohio State campus. Parsons and his family were escorted by an Ohio State recruiting assistant, Ed Terwilliger, to the ESPN College GameDay set that was broadcasting from the same campus.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a former Buckeye, allowed them access to the restricted production area and introduced Parsons and his family to the Ohio State running back Eddie George on air. 

Though it is permissible for a prospective college player to have on-campus contact with a former student-athlete, the NCAA bylaws 13.10.1 and 13.10.2.4 restrict having such contact during an unofficial visit.

A prospective player cannot participate in activities that publicly reveal their visit or have contact with the media members associated with the college's former student-athletes, according to Tom Vanhaaren of ABC News. 

This incident also attracted a violation under NCAA Bylaw 13.2.1, where Parsons and his family received access to an area not permissible for the public.

Ohio State reported such violations and responded by suspending Terwilliger for one game, and agreed to stop recruiting Parsons entirely for the college season. 

Though both the Brendan Sorsby and Micah Parsons cases are different in terms of the nature of violations, the leniency in the verdict given to Sorsby has attracted significant comparison and heated discussions across the football world. 

Court Ruling Secures Brendan Sorsby's Eligibility for 2026 Season

According to USA Today, Sorsby will be eligible to play for Texas Tech in the 2026 season after the judge in Lubbock County ruled in favor of the quarterback's injunction against the NCAA.

"The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court's ruling in Sorsby's case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching, and broadly destabilizing ramifications of the outcome, which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports," the NCAA wrote, per USA Today.

The ruling in Sorsby's case was highly condemned and criticized by analysts and fans, as the NCAA rules strictly prohibit athletes from placing bets on professional sports.

It also prohibits them from placing bets on their own team when they were an active member.

While Sorsby will be allowed to take the field in 2026 for now, the ruling will remain a topic of debate as the NCAA continues to push back against such a decision.

What are your thoughts on Sorsby receiving temporary relief while Micah Parsons’ time in college resurfaced? Share in the comments.

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Written by

Archana Ramakrishnan

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar