The NFL has upheld, or affirmed, the five-game suspension of Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor for manipulating of NFL eligibility rules.
"Based on Mr. Pryor’s actions, I believe it is a fair conclusion that he intentionally took steps to ensure that he would be declared ineligible for further college play and would be able to enter the NFL via the Supplemental Draft," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in his decision to affirm the suspension. "Taken as a whole, I found that this conduct was tantamount to a deliberate manipulation of our eligibility rules in a way that distorts the underlying principles and calls into question the integrity of those rules."
Pryor had been suspended for the first five games of the 2011 college season for selling memorabilia for cash and services before forgoing his senior season and leaving Ohio State University amid further investigation into him receiving improper benefits.
"In my judgment, allowing players to secure their own ineligibility for college play in order to avoid previously determined disciplinary consequences for admitted conduct reflects poorly not on college football – which acted to discipline the transgressor – but on the NFL, by making it into a sanctuary where a player cannot only avoid the consequences of his conduct, but be paid for doing so
Selected by the Raiders in the third round of the 2011 Supplemental Draft, Pryor is eligible to be activated to Oakland's 53-man roster following their October 9 road game against the Houston Texans.
Pryor signed a four-year contract worth $2.746 million, with the five-game suspension costing him $110,294 in base salary this season.
Other quotes from Goodell regarding the decision:
"Mr. Pryor – not Ohio State or the NCAA – made the judgment that he was ineligible for college play, and then took a series of affirmative steps that were intended to, and had the effect of, accomplishing that result. Moreover, Mr. Pryor did so in order to avoid the consequences of his conduct while in college – conduct to which he had admitted and for which he had accepted a suspension – and to hasten the day when he could pursue a potentially lucrative professional career in the NFL.
"This smacks of a calculated effort to manipulate our eligibility rules in a way that undermines the integrity of, and public confidence in, those rules. Mr. Pryor made an affirmative decision to remain in college and play for Ohio State in 2011. He later reconsidered and decided that he wanted to enter the NFL. In order to do so, he needed to forfeit his remaining college eligibility and took steps to ensure that would happen. Based on the specific facts presented here, I conclude that Mr. Pryor’s actions warranted imposition of conditions on his entry into the NFL, namely, that he serve the same five-game suspension that he had previously agreed to while at Ohio State."
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