Brendan Sorsby Burned At The Stake While Sportsbooks Still Prey

Former college quarterback Brendan Sorsby made some very unwise decisions. He says he has a gambling addiction, and there is no reason not to believe him.

For those who think his addiction is fake, I would advise you to think deeply about how this opinion can stigmatize others with gambling addiction. Celebrities sometimes receive special treatment or oversized sympathy in this spectacular hellworld we live in, but Sorsby’s addiction appears very, very real. He might not have hit rock bottom in his life. We should all hope for the best for him.

He’s now paid a significant price for gambling, as he can’t play in the NCAA or the NFL this upcoming season. The NFL decided this week that it won’t have a supplemental draft for him. Maybe he’ll play in Canada, maybe he’ll take a year off, which may or may not be good for him in the long run. Maybe he’ll never play in the NFL. There is so much unknown.

In football terms, Sorsby has been burned at the stake for betting on games involving his own team (Indiana at the time). People call this the “cardinal sin” in sports. Fair enough.

I’m not going to defend him against these career consequences.

But what is remarkable is that the sports betting apps, including the ones that took his bets, are unscathed from this scandal reputationally. More specifically, the owners and executives at these firms.

I’m not calling Sorsby a pure victim. He had and has agency. He didn’t have to gamble on sports.

But I am calling Sorsby prey. He was preyed upon by an industry that devastates millions of people, their families, and close friends. He placed nearly 9,000 sports bets over just several years.

Who took these bets? Predators did.

Gambling industry bootlickers will say that he was going to bet on sports via unregulated operators if legal options didn’t exist. That is rank speculation.

In our hellworld, these gambling app predators are described using terms such as tech entrepreneurs.

I hope the 22-year-old Sorsby has a successful long-term recovery. I hope this is as low as his life gets from his gambling addiction. Millions of people have fallen much harder.

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