The former number one recruit in the country leaves Ohio State in shambles, as he selfishly tries to pursue a pro career

SCOTT JACOBS

Terrelle Pryor was the number one recruit in the nation in March 2008, easily the most sought after high school player in the country, as he sat at a long rectangular table to make his big decision.  Wearing a black zip up Russel jacket, Pryor looked to his right, then to his left,and pulled a black Ohio State hat out of the person sitting next to him’s jacket.

With his big Cam Newton like smile he mouthed the words “University of Ohio State,” which are actually incorrect if that is indeed what he said.  He adorned the hat onto his clean cut head to the delight of an ecstatic Ohio State fanbase.

Little did they know, Pryoy’s black hat would be the black plague to an Ohio State engine that had been running so smooth for nearly a decade.  Leave it to some hot shot recruit, who won BCS games, but never BCS titles, broke records, but apparently also broke a bunch of rules, to bring down one of the nation’s steadiest programs, and their once ‘there for life coach.’

That’s how Terrelle Pryor blazed his path into Columbus.  Yesterday, Pryor fireballed his way out, knowing he would never see the field again in spite of just a 5 game suspension that had been pegged on him back in December.  His coach gone, his program wrecked probably for the next 5-10 years, Pryor sped off out of the college scene, and into what he hopes will be a pro career.

Now granted, Pryor will not be a NFL quarterback, nor will he probably be a high draft pick in something they call the Supplemental Draft, but that doesn’t change the fact that not only did he cause a bunch of NCAA violations, leaving the perennial Big 10 powers in a cloud of uncertainty, he left without  a hint of remorse, or for that matter, punishment.

Pryor will never serve that 5 game suspension, or whatever suspension he would have been given after these allegations are finally turned into powerful sanctions. Even though his actions cost him a year of a college football career that badly needs fine-tuning if he wants to be a quality pro at the next level, in reality, Pryor once again proved that college guys can get out Scot free.

Pryor leaves the villain in Columbus, and if I were him, I wouldn’t show up with any of my “loaner cars” in that city ever again.  But for all the hate he’s sure to have dubbed on his broad shoulders, for I don’t know, forever, he leaves the school without really ever being held responsible for his actions.

In a perfect system, it wouldn’t be so easy for a player to contribute a giant wrecking ball to a proud program and then bolt.  In a perfect idealized world Pryor would not be eligible to go pro after his actions.  In my world, he’d have to stay at the school, and take the blame like a man.  College athletes are allowed to leave disaster sites as if nothing ever happened.  Unfortunately for Pryor he’s not an elite NFL ready player, but if he were, NFL teams would be lining up for his services, regardless of his past actions.

Some tats, some cars, and now reportedly some big time paydays for his autographs, have Pryor running for the hills as Ohio State burns in the backdrop.  And while Pryor most definitely ruined what could have been a championship team, and maybe a bright NFL future, it’s his school that will get hit the hardest.

Because of his actions — though it wasn’t just him, he’s just the poster-child — Ohio State will have a new head coach, possibly a new athletic director, and maybe even a new school president by the time this is all said and done.  Lest us forget a hefty bowl ban in all likelihood to go along with a reduction in scholarships.  Face the facts: Pryor gets off easy compared to the school.  It’s not even close.

Ohio State is looking at a USC-esque rebuilding project in the wake of this nightmare.  Pryor won’t foot the bill for any of it.  Sure would be nice if he was forced to pay back that $20,000-$40,000 that he supposedly got for selling his soul. Wouldn’t be much in terms of helping the school, but it would be a gesture that would at least have some value.  Instead he gets to keep the cash most likely, drive around in sports cars he got lord knows how, and pursue a pro career with nary a consequence in sight.

While missing a season is a pretty rash punishment, it would have been really nice to see him bite the bullet and hone up to his stupid, selfish actions.  To see him stay on campus, instead of running off with his tail in between his legs.  To see him publicly apologize for totally screwing up a golden opportunity on what was once a golden ticket of his.

Now the elusive strong armed Pryor is scrambling to figure out how he can succeed at the next level. The school that tried to give him everything — a little too much actually — including waiting 2 months beyond the normal signing day to originally sign him, is left to pay for his actions.

Again, it wasn’t only him, there were others — and Jim Tressel is no angel in this either — but it’s Pryor who brought his hot shot talents to the Buckeye Nation, only to leave the school as the face of failure: never having won a championship, the central figure in an investigation getting worse by the minute.

Throw out the records and everything good that he did while at the school.  Pryor’s ultimate legacy should be as a loser, for abandoning a program, that he left to burn to the ground.  Great example kids.  If only Pryor had just stayed in school.

Finally, let it be said that this article has nothing to do with Pryor’s skin color.  I don’t care if he was white, black, green, or purple.  What the guy did was not just stupid and selfish, it was also cowardly.  It doesn’t take a man’s skin color to see his true colors.

Photo: AP

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