Next Steps for Terrelle Pryor

It has now been a few days since the Ohio State controversy reached its boiling point (or at least they hope its as bad as it will get). Jim Tressel resigned after a catastrophic attempt at cover up after cover up. Terrelle Pryor, the central character in the continuing Ohio State investigation, decided he would not return for his senior season for the best of the University. This was just days after Pryor claimed he would do just the opposite and stay. That was before more information leaked about Pryor breaking even more NCAA rules than was originally thought.

  Was this the right decision? I am not sure. I don't know Terrelle himself and I cannot judge him. The only thing I can look at is what he has done. I understand him leaving. It is the easier way out. He buried himself very deep (with the help of his head coach and former/current teammates) and would need a bull dozer to dig himself out (hopefully not one paid for by OSU). When all you want to do is play football, why should you worry about a huge distraction if you don't have to? Based on this we now need to look at his future options.


The following is a short list of Terrelle Pryor's options if he chooses to continue playing football after OSU:

1. Taking a year off to train and enter the 2012 NFL Draft
• This I feel is likely to be the worst decision Pryor could make to start out his pro career. If he does this he might as well have taken his lashes and stayed at Ohio State.Pryor would likely not play for many games (if at all) but he is still leaving an established, successful (though tarnished) football program. The school lost its highly regarded head coach but the job has not lost its prestige and will attract a worthy candidate. I think, in this case, the best thing Pryor could have done was (drum roll) come clean. About everything. Got some tatoos? Signed some memorabilia for cash? Gotten some nice cars? Fess up. Apologize. You messed up and did somethings you shouldn't have when money was waved in your face. You aren't the first college kid to make a mistake and you certainly won't be the last college athlete to make this particular one. So own it and apologize.  Do your best to win back the hearts of the people of Columbus. I am not familiar with the NCAA's style or how deep Pryor's offenses go, but I would think an organization focusing on the character of students would smile upon this act. It would be difficult and a very long journey, but think about what it could mean for OSU and the NCAA in general. Just when things are seeming the bleakest (USC and Reggie Bush's situation and investigations into many Universities) here we would have Terrelle Pryor, one of the NCAA's worst offenders, fessing up and committing to making a change in his locker room. Restoring Ohio State to what it once was thought to be only in one season would be a very uphill battle but he is a leader of the team and the correct steps could be taken. I think he would be able to practice right along with his team mates going through his same plight. I never played football but I know that practicing any sport along with a team is far better then training all on your own. If he stayed, set his life straight, trained, maybe even played a little, he would be in a far better place then taking a year off for private training. It would even look better to NFL teams when he enters the draft. He spends a year becoming a shining beacon of hope for the NCAA and developing his quarterback game. Put that transformation next to Andrew Luck and I think it could make Mel Kiper's hair stand up on end (yes, even higher than usual).
2.  Entering the NFL Supplemental Draft 
• This is a far more legitimate step for Pryor. Getting right to a team would mean he could get on some kind of a practice squad (either player run or otherwise if a new CBA gets decided upon soon) and start getting in shape. This whole process is very distracting, I'm sure, and getting right to a new team may put his mind a little at ease. That, however, could be his biggest downfall. Historically players who go into the supplemental draft are in the same boat as Pryor(NCAA sanctions) or were dismissed because of grades or other ineligibility. These players usually arent aware they are headed for the NFL quite yet, and don't get into the same shape as players who attend the combine and are in the main draft. This leads to a slew of irrelevant players or players whose careers are cut short by injury. In fact, there are very few players with successful careers from the supplemental draft. There's a handful of defensive players (such as Brian Bosworth, Darren Mickel, and Jamal Williams) who slipped through the cracks when, really, only two players on the offensive side of the ball were ever truly successful. Super Bowl QB, Bernie Kosar was taken in the first round of the 1985 Supplemental draft and WR Cris Carter was selected in the 4th round of the 1987 draft. So looking from a statistical standpoint, it hasn't always been a wise career move. Mix that with the lack of a CBA and the prospect of a shortened season (let alone if there will even be a supplemental draft at all) it is an iffy idea at best. Then again, Cris Carter was a former Buckeye being forced to enter the draft because of signing with an agent (an act deemed illegal by the NCAA). He also entered the league the year of the 1987 strike and played a shortened season. Ohio State's coach in 1987 was Earle Bruce, who was fired that year. Guess who worked summer camps attracting OSU prospects for Bruce. Jim Tressel. The parallelism is almost too much for me to take, so destiny could be on his side. 
3. Entering the UFL/CFL/Other supplemental football league
• This is Pryor's best chance of being a successful pro football player. With the NFL labor situation becoming a greater thorn in the side of everyone involved (fans included), supplemental football leagues are gaining a great deal of publicity. Pryor would be guaranteed to play a season this year and would probably be a starter. He would gain his league a great deal of attention and any UFL team would love having him. He would likely be able to keep his position as quarterback if he chooses instead of almost certainly having to change to a wide out or a tight end if he entered the NFL. The core of UFL coaches are former NFL coaches so it would be a great tool to develop the young player and he would likely be playing with many NFL secondary players if the lockout doesn't get resolved. He could still enter the NFL later if his contract is up with another league and could come out a much more toned, developed athlete. It would not be as ideal as playing in the NFL, but he wouldn't have to answer to as many probing questions about his past and he would be able to be a starting pro football player. Its exactly what he wants.

I don't know Terrelle Pryor, but I do know he is an adult. He can make his own decision and will (with the help of his lawyers and a laundry list of other advisors). He could have made a decision to help his school and the NCAA as a whole, but he chose to do what was best for himself and, considering what he had to face otherwise, I cannot fault him at all. My only hope is that, in helping himself, he does what is truly best for himself. One decision always leads to another, and they're just going to keep on coming.