Ohio has a new villain and this man has nothing to do with hoops

BRAD CLARK
(Clark started and writes for NFLsFuture.com)

While LeBron James isn’t off the hook by any means, Terrelle Pryor certainly takes some of the villain pressure off of James in the state of Ohio.  Terrelle Pryor officially announced that he has called an end to his Ohio State career.  The announcement coming before the implosion of the NCAA investigation.

Terrelle Pryor, statistically, will go down as one of the greatest Ohio State quarterbacks in the history of the school.  He finished his career going 31-4 as a starter, won two BCS bowl games, went undefeated against TSUN, and finished tied with Bobby Hoying for most TD passes in school history.

Quite impressive.  But those numbers and the name Terrelle Pryor will always have an asterisk beside them.

Terrelle Pryor leaves a legacy of scandal behind while he will search for NFL successes.  Pryor’s Ohio State career won’t be remembered for the dazzling runs, TD passes, wins against Michigan, or the two BCS bowl wins.  He will go down as the guy who trampled the rules on his way to trampling the legacy of an Ohio hero, Jim Tressel.

Jim Tressel won’t admit it but he has to regret the day he rolled out the red carpet for Terrelle Pryor.  Pryor seemingly began his legacy by doing the unheard of at that point and waiting an extra two months to announce his college choice.  Oh, how excited were the Ohio State fans on that day in March of 2008.  That excitement carried over to the beginning of his career at OSU as the process of vilifying himself slowly took its course.

As good as Pryor was he never won over the normal tough crowd in Columbus.  There was always something missing…something you just couldn’t put into words.  Until now.

Terrelle Pryor’s off the field and sometimes on the field antics left a bitter taste in OSU fans proverbial mouths.  They put up with because of the decades of winning and the talent T.P. brought to the field on Saturday’s.  There is no question; Terrelle Pryor could win games, sometimes on his own.  But as we all know, sometimes there’s a price to winning.  In this case, it cost OSU fans their beloved head coach.  It cost a tattoo parlor, a dozen or more tattoos.  It cost a car dealership a couple of “loaner cars.”  And in the end, it may cost the university a chance to win a national title for several years.

Some fans will choose to remember Terrelle Pryor for his elusive runs that won 31 games.  Yet, in the end his OSU career ended because he couldn’t elude his greatest opponent, Terrelle Pryor.

Photo: Reuters

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