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NFL Grants Terrelle Pryor Entry Into the Supplemental Draft

Pryor must serve a five-game suspension by the league for undermining the integrity of the supplemental draft.\r \r

After weeks of uncertainty, former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was cleared Thursday by the NFL for Monday’s rescheduled supplemental draft.

 

There is one catch, however. Pryor won’t be eligible to play in the NFL until Week 6 because the NFL said he did things to undermine the integrity of the supplemental draft. The supplemental draft is for college athletes who experience unforeseen circumstances after the regular April NFL draft.

 

The NFL clearly feels Pryor manipulated the system in order to gain entry into the NFL. But some say Pryor still won because he got what he wanted and that is the chance to enter the NFL this season despite some questionable moves on his part.

 

The NFL’s supplemental draft had been originally scheduled for Wednesday but the league postponed it while it ruled on Pryor’s eligibility.

 

"... Pryor made decisions that undermine the integrity of the eligibility rules for the NFL Draft,” the NFL said in released statement. “Those actions included failing to cooperate with the NCAA and hiring an agent in violation of NCAA rules, which resulted in Ohio State declaring him ineligible to continue playing college football.

 

"Pryor then applied to enter the NFL after the regular draft. Pryor had accepted at the end of the 2010 college football season a suspension for the first five games of the 2011 season for violating NCAA rules. Pryor will be ineligible to practice prior to or play in the first five games of the NFL regular season after he signs."

 

Pryor will be eligible to play in the final two preseason games if he is drafted and signed following Monday’s draft that has six players eligible to be taken. Pryor will be able to have limited contact with whatever team takes him, but he won’t be able to fully join the team until after he serves his five-game suspension.

 

Now the question becomes, "Where will Pryor be drafted?" With such a late start and not being eligible until Game 6, it’s hard to believe that he will go much higher than his projected fourth round. You have to consider the 2011 campaign a wasted season for a player like Pryor, who was going to have a huge learning curve to begin with coming from a spread attack to a pro-style offense.

 

Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris

 

(Photo: Associated PressAP)

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