Will Pryor Enter NFL Supplemental Draft in July?

By Zachary D. Rymer


These last couple months have been a long, bumpy road for Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. And unfortunately, he has nobody to blame but himself.

In case you need to get caught up, it was revealed several months ago that Pryor and several other Ohio State players traded memorabilia for tattoos, and that head coach Jim Tressel had covered for them. Initially, that led to suspensions for all involved parties, but things have gotten progressively worse.

At the outset, Pryor could have chosen to declare for the 2011 NFL Draft. Instead, he promised Tressel he would return for his senior season. As it turned out, Tressel resigned on Monday. As if that wasn't bad enough, it is now being investigated whether or not Pryor has also received cars and other benefits.

Needless to say, Pryor's tenure at Ohio State has taken a turn for the worse. However, these is a way for him to escape.

The draft has already taken place, but the word from ESPN's Adam Schefter is that the NFL lockout will not necessarily cancel the supplemental draft. If there are applicants, it will be held in July.

So far, there haven't been any applicants, and no deadline has been set for interested players to apply.

"If there is one, the supplemental draft would be held mid-to-late July, no later than 10 days before the first training camp opens," said an optimistic league official.

The supplementary draft was implemented in 1977. It is designed to accommodate players who didn't declare for the NFL Draft in time and for those who couldn't because they were facing disciplinary issues. Naturally, Pryor belongs in the latter group.

As for how the supplemental draft works, teams are free to make a "bid" on a player. These bids are the round they would take the player in if they were in the draft. If one team bids a seventh-round pick, and another bids a fifth-round pick, the second team would win the player but would then forfeit its fifth-round pick in the following year's draft.

If Pryor wants of out Ohio State, this is his ticket. It may not be the Radio City Music Hall, but at least it will get him away from Columbus. And better yet, he'll get paid.

Now that Tressel is gone, don't be surprised if Pryor chooses to pursue this opportunity

How modest can one guy be?

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor says he would "dominate" college football if he played in a spread offense.
Pryor made the comments to the Chicago Tribune when asked about the attention given to players like Auburn's Cam Newton and Michigan's Denard Robinson.

"I'd dominate the nation (in a spread offense)," Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor says. "I'll put it like this: You put me in any of their offenses — any of them — and I'd dominate," the junior told the newspaper. "I'd dominate the nation. What those guys do, that's what they're supposed to do in their offense.

"They carry the ball 30 times a game. I carry the ball maybe five times. There are times I didn't even run the ball in a game. You put me in any of their offenses, where I can run the ball and have a choice to throw, I would dominate college football."

Pryor, who entered Ohio State amid much hype in 2008, was not named to the first or second team of either of the All-Big Ten teams (one selected by coaches, one by the media). But he is a finalist for the Tribune Silver Football, awarded annually to the Big Ten's best player.

"We could have done better, but I'm 30-4," Pryor said of his time with Ohio State. "I want nothing else but to win. If I was having a lot of stats and I was losing, I would really be kind of mad. My competitive nature wants just to win, by any means. By any means, win. That's all I really care about, to tell you the truth, man."

Then, WHY did he choose Ohio State, he must not be too bright, arrogant, but not too bright. Why not choose a school where the spread offense is used. I'd say some "sour grapes" are contained in that statement, he has been "overlooked" in a lot of categories, what movie was that in, "I cudda been a contender." How about, "They made me come here, I wanted to go to a school with the old "spread offense," but they promised me so much, I just hadda come here."

Must make old coach Tress and his little sweater vest wonder if he will be back next year. My guess is he was promised a Heisman if he came to OSU, Archie probably told him that. He likes to blow his own horn, maybe go into politics, transfer to another school, or turn pro. "I cudda been a contender."

Early part of the season a lot of talk about his being in the running for the Heisman, have heard none since the loss to Wisconsin, must have really been ego deflating for him, and he apparently has a larger ego than I thought.