Terrelle Pryor May Not Be Eligible For Supplemental Draft: Could Miss Entire Football Season

Alex Marvez of Fox Sports is reporting on a story claiming that Terrelle Pryor might not be eligible for the NFL Supplemental Draft due to the circumstances surrounding his departure from Ohio State.

Marvez quotes NFL spokesman Greg Aiello as saying this about the supplemental draft:

“It is for players whose circumstances have changed in an unforeseen way after the regular (college) draft. It is not a mechanism for simply bypassing the regular (draft).”

I don't buy the argument that Pryor is ineligible because he might have bypassed the regular draft on purpose.  He had plenty of reason to leave Ohio State prior to the draft, but I believe it was simply the departure of Head Coach Jim Tressel that was the ultimate decision for Pryor to leave.  That should be easy enough for Pryor to explain to the NFL when he finally able to talk to them following the end of the lockout.

Last year, BYU's Harvey Unga left his school after it was found he had violated the school's honor code. He had yet to be officially suspended, but voluntarily left and was taken in the supplemental draft by the Bears.

If Pryor is determined to be ineligible for the supplemental draft, then he will either have to wait until the 2012 NFL Draft or he could play either in the Canadian Football League or the fledgling United Football League.