Red State AG Slams Ken Paxton for Threatening Legal Action if Schools Boycott Texas Tech for Bringing Back QB Who Bet on Games

Tanner Pearson/AP

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) called out Texas AG Ken Paxton on Friday for threatening legal action against schools that refuse to play Texas Tech.

On Monday, Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction by a local judge, paving the way for a potential return to the field. Months earlier, the NCAA declared Sorsby ineligible after it was discovered he placed thousands of bets over the last few years. Many of those bets included his own team.

That decision sparked near-universal backlash from the sports community, with many arguing it left the NCAA powerless when a student-athlete could just get a favorable ruling from their local judge. Ole Miss was embroiled in a similar controversy when star QB Trinidad Chambliss was granted a sixth year of eligibility after the NCAA initially ruled against it.

If Sorsby does end up playing, the other schools in the Big 12 Conference have floated the idea of refusing to play Texas Tech in protest. In response to those reports, Paxton — who recently won the Republican primary for a Senate seat thanks to the endorsement of President Donald Trump — threatened to pursue legal action against any school that boycotts Texas Tech.

On Friday, Drummond’s office issued a statement calling Paxton’s threats “meritless” and expressing support for the Big 12 Conference. The letter read:

My office is aware of a letter sent to the Big 12 Conference from the Texas Attorney General’s Office asserting that the Big 12 would violate federal and state antitrust laws by sanctioning Texas Tech. Oklahoma is home to a Big 12 member institution, Oklahoma State University, and my office has a direct interest in the integrity of Conference competition.

The claims asserted in the letter are meritless. The idea that the Big 12 may not sanction the actions of one of its members under an agreed-upon preexisting contract is facially absurd.

Further down in the letter, Drummond urged the Big 12 to “take action against Texas Tech.” He also claimed Texas Tech “shirked responsibility by running with a bogus claim to a friendly court,” and that Sorsby’s extensive betting history “threatens the integrity of the game.”

Following the wave of outrage from the public, Texas Tech released a 22-minute video in which university leaders explained their decision to bring Sorsby back. That video was ruthlessly mocked online.

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