Jim Tressel NFL Suspension: Colts' Consultant Out First Six NFL Games

The newest Indianapolis Colt has been suspended for the first six games of the NFL season.

Jim Tressel, the former Ohio State Buckeyes coach and now replay-game consultant with the Colts won't be able to start his new job until Week 7 of the NFL regular season. 

Colts vice chairman Bill Polian said the suspension was suggested by Tressel after discussions this past weekend. 

Tressel resigned as head coach of the Buckeyes after his lying to the NCAA about players receiving improper benefits came to light. Had he stuck with Ohio State, he would have been unable to coach his team for the first five games.  

Nobody knew whether or not Tressel would ever work in football again, and if they did think he'd be back, they certainly didn't think it would be so soon.

There was quite an outcry once Tressel took the position with the Colts this past Friday. After all, the NFL suspended Terrelle Pryor for his first five games, so people felt Tressel should receive the same form of punishment.

What's a surprise here is that the Colts were the ones to ultimately give the suspension–not the league. The NFL made the decision about Pryor immediately, but once Tressel was hired they didn't do anything. 

Polian did state in a news release that the league has been notified of their decision. Per ESPN:

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We have informed the league office of our decision and expect that they will be supportive of it, Polian said. We are very happy Coach Tressel will be joining us.

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Of course the Colts are thrilled to have a great football mind join their staff, but it's not like Tressel will be doing much for Indianapolis except on Sundays.

Head coach Jim Caldwell already said Tressel's job will be limited to working just game days. So does this suspension really matter? Will the Colts truly miss Tressel in the booth in the first six weeks? 

The only reason this suspension occurred was what happened to Pryor. Kudos to Tressel for suggesting it to avoid further problems though.

It's been a rough summer for Tressel (he resigned on Memorial Day), and once he gets his first job back in football, he's suspended on Labor Day. Perhaps Tressel will have better holidays in the fall and winter.