Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Ohio State

Urban Meyer recalls how Pete Rose nearly tricked him into giving out gambling intel

Byington mugby: Alex Byington05/09/26_AlexByington

A child of the 1970s, Urban Meyer is a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan, and always had a special place in his heart for the famed Big Red Machine. But, in light of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s ongoing gambling saga, the legendary former Ohio State head coach recently revealed how his childhood love of Reds great Pete Rose nearly made him a potential accessory to illegal gambling activities.

During a recent conversation about Sorsby’s situation on this week’s Triple Option podcast, the 61-year-old Meyer told the story about how the late great “Charlie Hustle” — MLB’s all-time hits leader who was banned for betting on his own games as the Reds’ manager in late 1980s — nearly tricked him into disclosing inside information on the Buckeyes roster during Meyer’s first season as coach in 2012.

“I was a huge Pete Rose fan, still am, we lost him several months ago, but he became a friend of mine. When I got hired at Ohio State, (the Reds) asked me to come down and throw out the first pitch, … and when I walked in the clubhouse, there was Pete Rose,” Meyer recalled. “… So we sat and talked for a couple of hours, exchanged phone numbers. I couldn’t get enough talking about the Big Red Machine, and he wanted to talk college football. And I (was) pretty naïve about the gambling thing, I’ve never really gambled in my life. … And during the season, my first year in 2012, every once in a while I’d get a text … ‘Hey man, how’s the team look? How’s Illinois look? How’s Braxton Miller’s shoulder?’ or something like that. And I’d text him back, ‘Yeah, we’re doing fine.’

“(When) I told that to someone, they said, ‘You’re an idiot. You know he’s trying to get information from you for gambling (purposes), and you could get in trouble,’” Meyer continued. “… Now I never gave much, but from that point forward, (if Rose texted) ‘How’s Braxton’s shoulder?’ I’d say, ‘How are the Reds doing?’ and just kind of moved on.”

For context, former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired in 2023 after he was found to have provided inside information to a bettor ahead of a game against LSU that season. The NCAA subsequently levied a 15-year show-cause penalty against Bohannon in 2024, indicating how seriously the organization takes gambling allegations.

Meyer continued to expound on his long friendship with Rose, who was 83 when he passed away Sept. 30, 2024, including a chance meeting a decade ago at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. During that meeting, Rose told Meyer about how his post-baseball life mostly revolved around signing autographs on the convention circuit and gambling, at which point Meyer brought the entire conversation back to Sorsby.

“Gambling is an addiction, and just to go full circle back to what we started (on), I really feel for this kid, man, I really do,” Meyer said. “It’s an addiction. I’ve witnessed it. I’ve seen people ruin their lives over it. … And whoever made these decisions to legalize gambling for young people, shame on you.”