Terrelle Pryor Apologizes To Jim Tressel, Buckeye Fans

Added on Jun 15, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Terrelle Pryor broke his silence on Tuesday about all of the naughty things he’d done while at Ohio State just as his new agent Drew Rosenhaus said he would. He didn’t have much to say, but he did say he was sorry to now former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and the Buckeye football supporters. The rest of the media event was taken up by the more verbose Rosenhaus reaffirming Pryor’s contrition and pumping up his potential as a NFL quaterback.

Pryor spoke for less than two minutes during which he apologized for misdeeds like accepting cash payments and free tats that got the Ohio State program into hot water with the NCAA:

“I say sorry to all the Buckeye nation and all the Buckeye fans across the country. I never meant to hurt anybody directly or indirectly with my conduct off the field and I am truly sorry.”

His comments about Jim Tressel sounded far less coached:

“In terms of coach Jim Tressel, a special shoutout. I’m sorry for what all went down and I apologize with all my heart. I love you just like a father. You taught me a lot and I apologize for putting you in a situation and taking you out of a job and place that you loved to be. I regret the fact that you’re not there any more and I regret the fact that I’m not there any more.”

Rosenhaus then took the stage and underscored what his new client had just said:

“He is very sad about what has happened to his college career and Ohio State. I can tell you that he is extremely, he is responsible for the mistakes that he has made. He has owned up to that. There are no excuses here, guys. No excuses at all. But the past is now the past for him and we have to move ahead. There is no point in him looking back.”

Rosenhaus made clear that Pryor will enter the NFL’s supplimentary draft this summer and said he expects his client to be the first overall selection. He said that the sky is the limit for Pryor as a NFL quarterback and tried to spin his troubles into a positive:

“Terrelle Pryor will be a great — not a good quarterback — a great quarterback in the National Football League. He is going to be a star. This experience that he has gone through will galvanize him and make him a better person, a stronger person.”

Pryor also stated that he’d like to eventually earn his degree from Ohio State, where he’s nine credits short of graduation.