Terrelle Pryor Is No Longer an Ohio State Buckeye

Terrelle Pryor had already done the selfish thing.

Thanks to his own self interest, which included tattoos, selling autographed clothing for cash to a Columbus Tattoo Parlor and allegedly driving around in subsidised cars, the Ohio State quarterback brought a close to his own glittering college football career by telling everybody through a lawyer: "In the best interest of my teammates, I have made the decision to forgo my senior year of football at The Ohio State University".

As a person, he probably won't be missed. Bags of skill but bags of attitude made everybody absolutely despise Ohio State University (apart from Buckeyes fans) when he was playing, and his defeats—which were rare—were celebrated around the Big Ten and maybe college football.

As a Penn State fan the VFA is not going to miss him. Not only because of the attitude, but also because he went 2-1 against the Nittany Lions including two straight victories and a tied-on third one in 2011 and seemed to make Penn State's very fast defense look bad again and again and again.

Sadly, I'm not one of the Penn State fans who is overjoyed about the fact that Pryor didn't come to Happy Valley. You can't really hide in a small place like Happy Valley, and it's not filled with tattoos or places of ill repute (unless you count the frat houses and bars). Everyone on campus knows what you're up to in Happy Valley, and if you've got a bad attitude, it gets back quickly to Coach Paterno.

Unlike Tressel (in a move which ultimately cost the Sweater Vest his job), the icon would have stomped on Pryor's bad behavior immediately, and if he persisted, Paterno probably would have thrown him out of college altogether. He doesn't particularly like bad apples, our Joe—particularly when he's been cleaning up the program since the debacle of the early-to-mid-2000s.

If Penn State had got Pryor, I'm pretty sure that Penn State would have been a nailed-on favorite to rule the Big Ten roost in 2011, and probably would have won it in 2010. One has to remember that a good quarterback like Pryor breeds good recruits, and this guy had the skills through the air and on the floor to worry everybody.

But you know what? Pryor's gone, baby, Pryor's gone. Nittany Nation doesn't have to worry about him anymore. And believe us, that's a very, very good thing.

Good luck Terrelle Pryor—and let's hope in the future you learn and don't make the same mistakes again.