Raiders’ rookie quarterback Terrelle Pryor had his appeal rejected by the NFL, who said that Pryor will remain suspended for the first five games of the regular season for “manipulating the NFL’s elegibility rules.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement saying:
“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.”
“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.”
This ruling closes the book on Pryor’s case in particular, but leaves open the question of the ability of the NFL to impose penalties based on college suspensions or conduct that occurred in college. This continues to be a precarious line to walk, since it is a slippery slope to reach across the line between the NFL and college.
