The Unforgettable 2005 Season
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Raise your hand if you remember the 2005 college football season.
Reggie Bush – USC’s electric young running back – was running sideline to sideline making opposing defenses look silly trying to tackle him, returning punts for touchdowns that didn’t make any sense, and possibly affecting the running back position in a similar way to what Allen Iverson and Steph Curry have done to basketball guards.
When Bush won his Heisman Trophy following that 2005 season, it made perfect sense. Bush had led the nation in average all-purpose yards per game (222.3) and finished fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game (133.85). He captured the country’s attention time and time again (e.g. his Fresno State punt return and the famous “Bush Push” when he willed his quarterback, Matt Leinart, into the endzone to defeat Notre Dame).
The Controversial Stripping of the Heisman
But in 2010 the Heisman Trophy was taken back from Bush. The NCAA accused Bush of receiving lavish gifts and compensation from sports agents while he was a student-athlete at USC. So the award was vacated. Bush also received a ten year disassociation penalty from the NCAA and USC that expired back in 2020.
Now that athletes are able to profit off of their name, image and likeness (NIL) since July 1, 2021, the actions that caused Bush’s Heisman Trophy to be taken away are now legal in the eyes of the NCAA and the individual institutions. When NCAA officials were asked if Bush’s Heisman would be returned to him, a spokesperson said in 2021 that the “NCAA rules still do not permit pay-for-play arrangements.”
Bush’s Battle: Seeking Justice in a New NCAA Landscape
Well, Reggie Bush has decided to fight back.
Bush and his attorneys have announced their plans to sue the NCAA for defamation. Said Bush’s lawyers, “On July 28, 2021, the NCAA falsely issued a statement to reporters that because of Mr. Bush’s prior involvement in a ‘pay-for-play arrangement’ the NCAA would not consider restoring his collegiate records that it vacated in 2010, which subsequently resulted in Mr. Bush having to return his Heisman.”
The statements that Bush has alleged were false were republished more than 20 times by various outlets.
Because the ‘pay-for-play’ distinction suggests that Bush would not have played at USC unless he was compensated, the NCAA will have to prove that he received recruiting inducements prior to his enrollment.
However this case shakes out, a few things are clear: Bush dazzled for years and is one of the iconic players from a pivotal era for college sports and college football. Before mega television deals and massive coaching contracts, Reggie Bush and USC were synonymous with dominance. To continue to punish him and leave his legacy tarnished while thousands of current athletes now enjoy NIL benefits seems unjust and silly. Plus in the years since his career at USC ended, he has represented the university and the NCAA with class while promoting the game through his years as a football analyst.
It’s time. Give Reggie Bush back his Heisman Trophy.