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Brendan Sorsby looks to throw during the Texas Tech football team's spring game, Friday, April 17, 2026, at Jones AT&T Stadium alongside a photo of a blackjack table.
When former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby claimed that he had a gambling addiction while fighting the NCAA in court to maintain his eligibility, a number of fans had reasons to believe the veracity of Sorsby’s claim.
However, in a new four-part docuseries titled “The Program: Texas Tech,” which was released Friday on Paramount+, the ex-Red Raiders signal caller opened up about his gambling habits, showing the depth of its severity.
Most notably, Sorsby talked about how quickly he became enthralled by going to the casino near his hometown of Denton, Texas, the moment he turned 18 years old.
Brendan Sorsby Seemingly Had A Serious Gambling Problem
“As you get into high school and you turn 18, right up the road there’s WinStar (Casino and Resort in Thackerville, OK), and you’re able to play a little blackjack with the fellas at 18 years old,” Sorsby says in a clip from the show.
“All you do is talk about it, and then you finally get to do it,” he continued.
The WinStar Casino that he’s referring to is just a 45-minute drive from Denton.
I couldn’t believe it pic.twitter.com/rMWHh9jVau
— Van Buren Boy (@Chuckwagen1932) September 5, 2026
Further into the series, Sorsby discusses his remorse for his gambling habit and how it affected not only his career, but the Texas Tech program as a whole.
“I have a ton of remorse and a ton of regret for the things that I’ve done in the past,” he said. “Just for my coaches and teammates and those guys, and then all the backlash that we faced — they’re having to face all the scrutiny and backlash as well.
“I gambled all throughout my time at Indiana, pretty much all throughout my time at Cincinnati. Made some mistakes, though, especially early on betting on my own team, which obviously everybody knows. Whenever I’d gotten to Tech, same deal. Making more money than I ever made in my life, no reason at all to gamble, and yet I still did it.”
Does the regret and addiction make Sorsby blameless? Of course not. But in light of his statements, you have to imagine that fans and opposing coaches may show him a little more grace than they had previously.