Heisman Trust Denies Any Decision; It Should Leave Bush Alone
Did what Reggie Bush did change what happened on the field? Only in the eyes of the NCAA.
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BERKELEY, CA - NOVEMBER 12: (FILE PHOTO) Reggie Bush #5 of the USC Trojans runs with the ball against the California Golden Bears at Memorial Stadium on November 12th, 2005 in Berkeley, California. Bush was picked second overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 2066 NFL Draft on April 29, 2006. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Reggie Bush was one of the greatest college football players of the last 20 years.
For that reason -- what he did on the field, not off it -- he should be allowed to keep his Heisman Trophy.
Yahoo first reported earlier in the day that the Heisman Trophy Trust, the people that give away the Heisman Trophy every year, were expected to vote to strip Bush of his 2005 Heisman Trophy. The reasoning was that an NCAA investigation of USC said he and his family had taken illegal money from a potential agent in violation of NCAA rules, and in the wake of the bad publicity the Trust would retroactively say Bush was ineligible for the awards because of it. This would be a first for the Trust.
Later in the day, Rob Whalen, executive director of the Heisman Trophy Trust, denied any decisions have been made through a statement:
“Yahoo Sports claiming Heisman Trust has reached a decision is completely false. The Heisman Trophy Trust has made no decision regarding the Reggie Bush matter.”
ESPN’s Chris Fowler dug around and heard that while the eight-man trust has had informal discussions, no formal steps have been taken.
Stripping Bush of the trophy would be wrong. The Heisman Trophy Trust is not the morality police, this is a football award.
Did Bush cheat? Not on the field (unless you want to count that push of Matt Leinart against Notre Dame). Off the field he, along with his mother and stepfather were taking cash, free housing a car, air travel, hotel lodging, transportation and more, all detailed in the NCAA's 67-page report.
Bush violated NCAA Rules. And the NCAA can and has punished USC. Which is how it should work (well, it should work a lot better but that gets into revamping the NCAA and we don’t have that kind of time).
None of that changes what Bush did on the field that year. He ran for 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 8.7 yards per carry. He had 37 receptions averaging 12.9 yards and another couple touchdowns. Oh, and no fumbles. He was lighting in a bottle and the most exciting college player in decades.
The NCAA likes to rewrite the past, as if it can really strip USC of titles or wins. Maybe the NCAA would like to refund ticket money to all those people who paid for games that apparently didn’t exist.
But the Heisman Trophy Trust is not a moral arbiter. Can they retroactively take away O.J. Simpson’s Heisman? What about Billy Cannon, he won the trophy in 1959 then secretly signed with an NFL and AFL teams separately to collect money, which led to an ugly court battle. Then in 1983 went to jail on counterfeiting charges. Where do you choose to draw the line on what is and isn’t allowed.
Nobody is ever going to think of Bush’s college years the same way again. Ever. But to try and strip him of the Heisman so a bunch of old guys in suits can feel morally superior is silly. If they want to do something valuable they should focus their efforts on stopping situation’s like Bush’s from happening in the future.
