Attorneys for former University of Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby are asking a Texas judge to intervene and allow him to play football at Texas Tech this year.
On May 18, Sorsby’s attorneys filed for injunctive relief against the NCAA in district court in Lubbock, Texas, home of the Red Raiders. The NCAA is investigating Sorsby’s gambling.
In court documents, Sorsby admitted to gambling on Indiana football games in 2022, when he was a freshman there. He also admitted to betting on other, unspecified sports while at UC.
Although not described in the documents, previously published reports allege that Sorsby bet on “balls and strikes” during Cincinnati Reds games using a gambling app.
In his affidavit, Sorsby said he has a gambling addiction, and in April voluntarily checked himself into a 30-day rehabilitation program.
The documents filed May 18 said Sorsby, from 2022 through 2025, “placed thousands of bets on everything and anything” and that his gambling, at least at times, spiraled out of control.
The filings said Sorsby never bet on any UC football games or players in those games during the 2024 or 2025 seasons, when he played for the Bearcats. The documents also said Sorsby never provided any nonpublic information about the team to any third party for the purpose of placing bets.
Sorsby bet on things like Turkish basketball league games, Romanian soccer games, “obscure” tennis matches, and the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, according to the documents.
UC officials have maintained that no one inside the university’s athletic department was aware of any “illegal gambling” and the university would not knowingly play an athlete involved in illegal gambling.
Gambling on anything the NCAA does not hold a championship in, such as mixed martial arts or horse racing, is allowed. However, the NCAA prohibits gambling on any sport that it sponsors.
Brendan Sorsby files to block NCAA from interfering in his return to Texas Tech football
In the filing, Sorsby’s attorneys are asking a judge to block the NCAA from interfering with Sorsby’s ability to practice, play and participate fully as a member of the Texas Tech football team for the 2026 season.
Sorsby last played a spring game at Texas Tech on April 17. He transferred from UC to Texas Tech on Jan. 4.
“The NCAA will suffer no cognizable harm from letting Mr. Sorsby play football while this case proceeds,” Sorsby’s attorneys said in an application for injunctive relief. “But if this court does not act, no future judgment can give Mr. Sorsby what the NCAA will have taken from him.”
His attorneys note that the NCAA profits from gambling and provides sports books with data. They also pointed out that the University of Arizona, of the Big 12, just renamed their football venue, Casino Del Sol Stadium.
What did Brendan Sorsby say about his gambling habits in the affidavit?
Sorsby, who grew up in Denton, Texas, said in an affidavit he started betting in high school and would drive with friends to a casino on the Oklahoma border where he could gamble legally.
After beginning his college career at Indiana University in 2022, Sorsby described feeling “disconnected” at the school. He began placing small bets on Indiana football, between $5 and $50. He said all bets were in support of Indiana or on how many yards or touchdowns for which a quarterback may throw.
He said he never used nonpublic information and didn’t bet on the one game he played in that year. And because Indiana wasn’t a strong team in 2022, he lost most of the bets, according to the filing.
Sorsby also placed bets on other sports, including “non-major doubles tennis tournaments” and the MLB draft, according to his affidavit. In 2023, the year he became a starter on the football team, he bet on Turkish basketball and the hot dog eating contest, the affidavit said.
Did Brendan Sorsby gamble while with the Cincinnati Bearcats?
In 2024, he was named UC’s starting quarterback after transferring from Indiana. His affidavit said he bet on unspecified sports but never on UC football.
Sorsby said during the 2024 and 2025 seasons he “never placed any bets” on UC football games or players in those games. He also said he didn’t provide nonpublic information about the team to anyone for the purpose of placing bets.
“And I never altered my performance based on any bets placed on Cincinnati football games or players in those games,” Sorsby said in the affidavit.
According to his attorneys, when Sorsby’s wagering became public in mid-April, he offered to take a two-game suspension after completing the residential treatment. The NCAA turned him down.
“I now realize that I allowed my gambling to get out of control to the point where I needed to seek professional help,” Sorsby said in his affidavit. “I never intended for that to happen, particularly because I grew up in a household guided by the values that we learned and discussed in church every Sunday, and I continue to carry those values with me today.”
While his ultimate goal is to quarterback Texas Tech, Sorsby’s affidavit also mentions the deadline for the NFL supplemental draft being June 22. Sorsby’s attorneys said the NCAA has been unnecessarily delaying his reinstatement process.
If he misses the deadline for the NFL supplemental draft and then is declared ineligible for the 2026 season, he would miss nearly a full year of playing and practicing football at a high level.
“That gap in competitive football − critical to my continued development and impossible to replicate − would be detrimental to me both personally and professionally,” Sorsby said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former Bearcats QB Brendan Sorsby says gambling got ‘out of control’
Reporting by Scott Springer and Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
