Well Well Well My Terrelle

When a young man enters the world of college athletics, it is his responsibility to do right by his teammates, his university, but most importantly himself. Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor did not do right by any of the aforementioned people when he took inappropriate benefits from outside influences. Certainly Pryor has not been the only player surrounded by scandal in college football, and compared to the University of Miami's situation, Pryor's actions are nothing. Still, Pryor was suspended five games by the NCAA for breaking the rules and coach Jim Tressel lost his job at Ohio State as a result of the whole mess.

Fortunately for the former buckeye, the Oakland Raiders took Pryor with a third round pick in the supplemental draft yesterday. The Raiders have been known for making questionable decisions with their draft selections, most recently wideout Darrius Heyward Bey in 2009. However, the Raiders gamble at this time does make some sense. Yes the black and silver most likely drafted Pryor too high, but the Raider's starting quarterback Jason Campbell is not the answer for the long term. The Raiders are known for making gutsy calls, so taking the biggest name in the supplemental draft should come as no surprise to anybody.  

There is little question that Pryor is not done developing as a player yet, but for those who say that Pryor will not be a good pro may be jumping the gun just a little bit. Pryor had a good year in 2010, with 27 touchdown passes vs only eleven interceptions. Pryor went 23-4 as a starter for the Buckeyes over a three year span and won the most valuable player award when the Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl last year. Like most of the good college quarterbacks, Pryor has good arm strength and can make things happen on the run. But also like many good college quarterbacks, Pryor's pocket presence is virtually non existent. But if Cam Newton, a quarterback with a similar skill set to Pryor's and his own fair share of controversy, can get drafted with the first overall pick, Pryor going early in the supplemental draft should not come as a surprise to anyone.

But before Pryor can develop, he has to serve a five game suspension in the NFL for his violations in the NCAA.

Which is fair to both sides.

Pryor broke the rules in the NCAA and he did try to go pro to avoid serving his suspension in college. And for this particular case, the NFL got it right by suspending Pryor for trying to use the system to his advantage.  Plus, now the NFL has a reference point for future situations if and when this type of thing were to happen again. But don't think that the NFL will now start policing the NCAA after this whole situation. The NCAA may be the NFL's unofficial minor league system, but the two leagues have different motives, different problems, and different playoff systems. And that is the way it should stay.

So what have we learned from the Terelle Pryor situation? First, that Pryor is like most other college students who would take benefits if they are offered. And anyone who says they would not take benefits if they were in Pryor's shoes are kidding themselves. Second, that the Oakland Raiders made a questionable drafting decision, but that is very normal. And third, that Pryor did try to cheat the system, so his NFL suspension for his college actions makes sense. Situation solved, now on to football.