When you’re named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year not once, but twice and yet still uninvited to Big Ten Media Day on both occasions, it really says something about your University’s interest in having you talk with the press.
Such is the case with Ohio State Buckeyes QB Terrelle Pryor.
And despite all the substantial efforts by Ohio State marketing and public relations professionals to limit Pryor’s access and/or augment his public persona, he’s still getting as much publicity from his verbal gaffes as he is from his play on the college football field.
By Paul M. Banks
Every sports blog picked up Pryor’s Michael Vick endorsement in 2008. It even made the Colbert Report. And in order to prevent more “I know everyone kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me, whatever” type of soundbites from getting into circulation, OSU instead brought their 7th, 15th, and 25th best players to Media Day in 2009.
In 2010 once again, Pryor was THE player to watch in the Big Ten; the guy EVERYONE wanted to talk to, and of course talk about. It’s a swarm, it’s a zoo every time he comes out to a press gathering. Partially because of his name recognition, partially because you never know when he’s going to say something stupid again and give us all great copy.
Pryor once took offense from the analysis of ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, whom TPezzy2 (as he’s known on Twitter) called “a fake Buckeye” for questioning the quarterback’s persona on the field. Pryor had a solid season, a pretty good one indeed. But at least four Big Ten QBs: Scott Tolzien, Dan Persa, Denard Robinson and Ricky Stanzi out-played him this year. And since you recall Pryor was the #1 recruit of his class in ’07, you have to comparatively measure him nationally, not in relation to conference.
Which means he’s obviously falling way short of the astronomical expectations placed upon him. And if you look at his statistical splits versus ranked and non-ranked opponents, you’ll see his numbers are pedestrian at best in the big games that count the most.
Outside of last year’s Rose Bowl, he hasn’t really done much of anything against good competition. Of course, he still believes he has all the answers to that. And isn’t afraid to share it publicly
Here’s what Pryor has been saying lately, according to Fox Sports Ohio. Who summed it all up perfectly
Asked about how he would fare if operating an offense like Auburn’s Cameron Newton, Michigan’s Denard Robinson or Northwestern’s Dan Persa, Pryor told the Tribune:
“I’ll put it like this: You put me in any of their offenses – any of them – and I’d dominate. I’d dominate the nation. What those guys do, that’s what they’re supposed to do in their offense. They carry the ball 30 times a game. I carry the ball maybe five times. There are times I didn’t even run the ball. You put me in any of their offenses, where I can run the ball and have a chance to throw, I would dominate college football.”
Tressel said earlier this year OSU’s best play was allowing Pryor to scramble and make something happen on the fly, so it’s not like the head man has handcuffed his quarterback.
Third, Pryor said when he came to Ohio State that the reason he rejected Michigan and Oregon was because he didn’t want to run the spread offense, but develop into an NFL quarterback.
What Pryor told the Tribune is a direct shot at his head coach and the Ohio State offensive staff. How could it be taken any differently, when Pryor emphasized three times that in “any” of the offenses in question he would “dominate” college football?
What Pryor campaigned for – making himself the focal point – is exactly what Ohio State has done virtually from the day he reported to campus.
“They weren’t better than us. Everybody knows that if we play nine out of 10 times, we’d beat Wisconsin.”
A lot of Pryor’s unintentionally memorable quotes are sourced from Twitter. You can add to his 18,000+ followers by going here
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest webzine. He’s also a regular contributor to the Tribune’s Chicago Now network, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank
He also does a regular guest spot each week for Chicagoland Sports Radio.com