COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Terrelle Pryor’s lawyer wanted Ohio State to make it clear to the NFL that his
client
could not return to the Buckeyes. So Ohio State not only declared its
former star quarterback would not have played at any time during the
2011 season but also banned him from any contact with the school’s
athletic program for the next five years.
In a letter from Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith dated Tuesday, Smith said that Pryor was
ineligible because he failed to cooperate with NCAA and Ohio State
investigators. He then added, "The university must also dissociate you
from its athletic program for a period of five years."
That means that Pryor can have no contact with recruits or enrolled Buckeyes, cannot accept
complimentary tickets to home games and cannot use the team’s athletic
facilities.
Smith didn’t rule out the use of all campus facilities, however.
"Please
note that this dissociation does NOT prohibit you from enrolling in
classes at the university to complete your degree," Smith wrote. "As you
know, I would encourage you to complete your degree."
There had been whispers that the NFL might not offer Pryor a spot in a potential supplemental draft in
the waning days of this
lockout-shortened summer because he had only been suspended for the
first five games of the 2011 season for accepting improper benefits from
a Columbus tattoo-parlor owner. Pryor was at the center of an ongoing series of controversies that led to
coach Jim Tressel’s forced resignation on May 30.
The NFL’s rules state a supplemental draft is open to "any player who is ineligible." Since
Pryor still could have played the second half of the 2011 season, there was
still a question whether he could have regained his eligibility and
played.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has not decided
anything about a prospective supplemental draft, nor has it considered
the status of Pryor.
"We have not set a
date for the supplemental draft nor made any determinations on the
eligibility of individual players," Aiello said in an email to The
Associated Press.
Pryor’s Columbus lawyer, Larry James, said he sought the letter from Smith to rule out any chance of
Pryor playing again in college, although that seemed extremely unlikely since
he has hired agent Drew Rosenhaus and has been working out in Florida
for the past several weeks.
"When you don’t cooperate (with the
NCAA) it’s the death knell," James said Tuesday. "Once you sign with an
agent, once you fail to work with the NCAA, you’re ineligible."
In other words, there’s no turning back for Pryor,
the nation’s top quarterback recruit from Jeanette, Pa., who had
success on the field but helped bring a lengthy NCAA investigation upon
one of the nation’s premier football powerhouses. After the NCAA began
looking into players who traded signed memorabilia, trophies and
championship rings to the tattoo-parlor owner, it led to five players —
including Pryor — being suspended for the first five games this fall. (A sixth player was subsequently
suspended.)
The
university later learned that Tressel had known his players had
accepted cash and tattoos for more than nine months but contrary to his
contract and NCAA rules did not tell Smith, the NCAA or Ohio State’s
compliance department. That led to Tressel being forced to resign on May
30.
Ohio State goes before the NCAA’s committee on infractions on
Aug. 12 in Indianapolis. The school has vacated the 2010 season,
including its victory over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl and has
self-imposed a two-year NCAA probation. The infractions committee could
accept those penalties or it could hand out stiffer sanctions, including
bowl bans and recruiting limitations.
James said the letter from Smith was necessary to make it clear to the NFL that Pryor is out of options —
other than a supplemental draft.
"I
don’t think anybody on this planet who’s paying attention to this
thought Terrelle was attempting to game the system" by leaving school
early for the NFL, James said.
Smith’s letter was also emailed to
the NCAA, Ohio State athletic administration officials, lawyers, the
university’s ticket manager, interim coach Luke Fickell and all other
Buckeyes coaches in all sports.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.