What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
I’m not sure what to add to the discourse on Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby. It’s taken over media and social media alike the last week. I know many of you live for hot takes but that’s just not me. If you care for my opinion, here it is.
Texas Tech Take
Any college athlete, coach, team employee or administrator caught gambling on their team — whether they’re playing, rostered or employed — should be subject to a one-year suspension, whether it impacts the outcome of the game or not, whether it happened six days ago or six years ago. Sorsby gambled on Indiana football while at Indiana. In my mind that makes him subject to that penalty. He should have been caught MUCH earlier. But he did it, he admitted it and he should be suspended, no matter what team he’s with at the time. The NCAA can give him a redshirt for next season if it likes. I’m OK with that. Something like that shouldn’t end an athlete’s career. But, to me, that’s where this should end up.
Except, of course, it’s not where this ended up as we have clearly seen.
Brendan Sorsby has a gambling addiction. He’s admitted it. I believe that. He’s on Texas Tech’s football roster and he may play this season or he may not. We’ve talked this situation into the ground. But I feel like something is missing from the conversation.
What if he has a relapse?
I don’t claim to be an expert in addition. But in more than 30 years of doing this, I’ve interviewed athletes that have had addictions. I’ve read stories by my colleagues about athletes that have had addictions. I have people in my circle that have had them. If you’re observant, you notice common threads. One I’ve always noticed is there is almost always a relapse.
Statistically speaking, those numbers are all over the place. From research I tracked down there is a general relapse rate for gambling addicts that is anywhere from 50-75%. One study by Toneatto & Ladouceur showed it as a stair-step — 75% abstain for six months, 50% abstain for a year and 25% abstain for two years. There’s a fair chance any gambling addict will relapse. The only question is when? That’s backed up by research.
I know we all saw the 21-minute video released by Texas Tech on Thursday.
(Aside: There are going to be case studies on how poorly Texas Tech handled this from a PR perspective. It’s not because they aren’t smart or because they’re not cognizant of the ramifications of this. I think they expected the judge to turn down the injunction, Sorsby would be barred from playing and it would not be their problem. TTU was caught flat footed and didn’t know what to do next. Just my opinion. All this reads like an athletic department unprepared for the consequences of a decision it had no influence on).
During that video athletic director Kirby Hocutt said that they’ve installed software on Sorsby’s phone to be able to keep track of his potential gambling habits. Here’s the clip.
It’s either laudable or Orwellian. It’s either support or tracking your investment. It feels simultaneously compassionate and mistrustful. But if you think that solves the problem, protects Texas Tech and protects Sorsby from himself, well it doesn’t.
Considering the athletes I’ve interviews and the stories I’ve read by my colleagues, another thread emerges.
Addicts find a way.
So Tech has activity detection software on his phone? It’s blocking gambling sites? Ok, fine. You think that’s the only way he can place a bet? All he has to do is find someone that can disable it for him. For someone with leftover money from his previous NIL deals — let’s assume Tech hasn’t paid out its deal with Sorsby — that’s easy. Pay someone to do it.
Surely those monitoring the tracking software will figure that out, right? Probably. What’s to stop him from buying another phone, creating a false identity and placing a bet? Honestly, nothing.
Addicts find a way.
But he lives in the state of Texas. Gambling is illegal in the state of Texas, right? Correct. It is — in all forms. But he’s already admitted to “proxy betting” while living in Texas, which is getting other people in other states to place bets for him using his money.
(Aside: While we’ve had robust discussions about the NCAA implications, there has been little discussion of the legal implications of what he’s admitted to. Proxy betting is illegal in the state of Texas. That makes Texas attorney general Ken Paxton taking Texas Tech’s side crucial in this. He’s also far less likely to come after Sorsby for breaking state law since he’s running for U.S. Senate and you don’t win higher office in Texas going against football. But proxy betting is also illegal at the federal level. It only takes one enterprising assistant federal attorney with his or her eye on political office to make Sorsby’s life unbearable. Not to mention that Sorsby admitted to gambling while he was underage).
So let’s say he has a new phone and wants to place a wager. His proxies do the right thing and won’t help. What’s next? He must drive to place a bet. He’s fortunate. New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma, the states closest to Lubbock, don’t allow sports betting. But Louisiana does. Think that’s nuts? Let me introduce you to Jim McIngvale.
McIngvale, better known as “Mattress Mack” in Houston, owns Gallery Furniture. He’s known for many things, including placing huge bets on the Houston Astros in the World Series. In 2022, he placed $10 million on the Astros to win the World Series and collected $75 million. He could have flown to fly to Vegas to place that bet. Or, he could have just gotten in his car, driven down I-10, crossed the border into Louisiana, parked and fired up his phone. It’s that easy. And it’s all perfectly legal.
Sorsby could fly to Las Vegas and place a legal bet by cash. But he would be instantly recognized, especially after all this. He could drive to Louisiana and place a bet by cash. Some casinos there also have physical sportsbooks. Or, he could use his burner to place a bet online. That requires driving to Shreveport, La., the closest spot I can think of with casinos across the state line.
That’s between seven and eight hours away from Lubbock. That sounds crazy, right? Drive nearly eight hours to place a bet? At least Mattress Mack can do it in less than two hours. But remember — addicts find a way.
What sounds perfectly absurd to non-addicts sounds completely reasonable to an addict. Their logic is about the fix, not about the 16 hours in round trip drive time just to get that fix. In their mind, it’s normal. It’s necessary. It’s logical to them, even if it isn’t to the rest of us. Nothing is far-fetched to someone with an addiction problem.
And that brings me back to Tech, Sorsby and the thing no one really wants to talk about.
What if he relapses?
A couple of things to keep in mind. The injunction bars Tech from removing Sorsby from the roster. Tech has not committed to playing Sorsby this season and he’s been suspended for the first two games. I know you hear Tech fans “nuance” this situation by saying these things, but they are accurate. There is nothing requiring Tech from playing Sorsby this season. But it doesn’t mean he can’t do irreparable damage to Tech’s season, even if he doesn’t intend to.
Remember — he bet on Indiana games when he was a redshirt. He didn’t play. He bet on Indiana to win.
(Aside: Why does betting on your team to win make it any better? Pete Rose did the same thing and look where it got him).
Do you understand what being on a major college football team means? It means training and weight room every day. It means practice practically every day. It means being in the position meeting room, the offensive meeting room and the team meeting room for game planning every day. It doesn’t matter if you’re an all-American or a redshirt or even injured. You’re there. And you have access to everything. In this situation, Sorsby would have access to the game plan.
This is where it gets dark and why, obviously, no one wants to talk about it. So Sorsby can’t place a bet. But he needs a fix. What about feeding inside information to other gamblers so they can bet? What if he’s playing? What about point shaving? You think no one will find out? Because professional gamblers are known for their privacy?
This is the worst-case scenario but I’m not sure anyone is exploring it at Tech. The vibe feels like “It’s all gonna be OK because we have Brendan’s back.” And maybe it will. But Sorsby is a recovering addict and he’s barely three months into treatment. Most recovering addicts aren’t asked to carry a football team amid a crucible of some of the worst attention any football team has gotten in years. This assumes, of course, that he plays, something Tech hasn’t committed to — yet. But you don’t do all of this for someone that isn’t going to play, right?
That’s why, in some respects, everything that has happened up this point is immaterial. What matters is what happens once Tech decides what to do with Sorsby. If Tech plays him, then it is resting its hopes on one player who is a few months into his recovery from an addiction that is the fourth rail of sports — gambling. If he places one bet while playing that’s it. If he even hints at it that’s it. His career is done. Tech will be sanctioned into a sinkhole. All the traction it has built the last two years will crash around them.
No reasonable person has an issue with Tech supporting Sorsby’s recovery. It’s the right thing to do. But Tech should understand that by supporting him he is also their problem to deal with if this all goes south. And that only takes one relapse.
No one in the Big 12 is “afraid of Brendan Sorsby.” That’s absurd. But Tech should be afraid of what a relapsed Sorsby can do to them.
I hope it works out. I really do. But the odds are not in Tech’s favor.
