When Regifting Goes Wrong

Christmas is upon us and please admit, you’ve done it before. Yes, that toaster your friend got you for your birthday? Of course you already have a toaster. You regifted that useless extra toaster to your grandmother who still doesn’t know what a toaster is. You, sir, are a regifting expert. Now, just for a second, imagine that the toaster was a 2008 Big Ten Championship Ring.  Imagine that your friend is the Big Ten conference and your grandmother is a shady buyer looking to get a Big Ten Championship ring on his finger without ever having to lift a weight. You’ve now put yourself in the shoes of Terrelle Pryor. Now you’re suspended, cheater!

What?

Did you do anything wrong? Well, sort of. There’s a fundamental rule of gifting that is against regifting presents. You knew that. You didn’t? Well, then you’re lying. I don’t think there’s anyone who would claim that regifting presents is immoral, but you know the rule. It’s not that it’s immoral; it’s just not acceptable. Of course, you could argue that this action was, in fact, morally the right thing to do. You didn’t care about the extra toaster, and now you have some extra money to, lets say, help your mother out.  How nice of you.

Hopefully, everyone followed the extended metaphor. Terrelle Pryor didn’t do anything morally wrong. He didn't do what everybody does- kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me. Pundits all over the place seem to be vilifying him, saying things like, "how could he do this to his team?" My take is that the kid just wanted to make some money to get by. He wasn't thinking of the consequences; he was thinking of ways of helping him and his mother get by.

Student-athletes have no time to work jobs. There's no income for them. it's just school and sports. So if we're not going to pay them, can we at least agree that it it's okay for players to sell their own possessions. Pryor wasn't running a drug house (allegedly). His father didn't solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars for his recruitment. He didn't accept money from agents. All Pryor did was sell his own possessions.

Pryor got called out. They found out he regifted that toaster, but is that so bad? I think people should be clear when they talk about Pryor. Pryor did not do anything wrong. He broke a rule that, if we're honest, shouldn't be a rule in the first place.

So calm down Ohio State haters. You didn't lose to Ohio State this year because Pryor was selling his Big Ten Championship ring, gold pants, or Fiesta Bowl Sportsmanship Award. You didn't lose because Pryor and company got cheap tattoos. You lost because your football team can't measure up with OSU.