LOS ANGELES — After nearly 14 years apart, Reggie Bush is reunited with his Heisman Trophy, ending a nearly two-decade saga that became a touchpoint for public opinion about how college athletes should benefit from their stardom.
The Heisman Trust reinstated Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy on Wednesday in a seismic moment for a player who was the face of a golden era for USC football. The career of Bush, who forfeited his Heisman in 2010 after the NCAA deemed he received impermissible benefits, forced fans — and now the sport’s long-established institutions — to reckon with whether NCAA penalties could actually taint a player’s on-field legacy.
“We are thrilled to welcome Reggie Bush back to the Heisman family in recognition of his collegiate accomplishments,” said Michael Comerford, President of The Heisman Trophy Trust. “We considered the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years in deciding that now is the right time to reinstate the Trophy for Reggie. We are so happy to welcome him back.”
The decision to reinstate Bush’s Heisman — and return its replica to USC — comes at a time when players can now be paid for their name, image and likeness, which was not the case when Bush emerged as a star running back for the Trojans.
Bush won the award in 2005 after he accumulated 2,890 all-purpose yards and accounted for 19 total touchdowns while leading USC, which won at least a share of the national championship in 2003 and 2004, to the national championship game. It wasn’t too long after that Bush and the Trojans were embroiled in a years-long NCAA scandal that resulted in heavy sanctions against the Trojans’ football program, after the governing body determined that Bush and his family received impermissible benefits while he was at USC. The penalties came down in 2010 and included a two-year postseason ban and the loss of 30 scholarships over a three-year period, which crippled the program’s depth for several seasons and took years to restore.
The NCAA also forced USC to permanently disassociate from Bush — meaning it had to essentially ignore or erase all acknowledgement of Bush. In September 2010, Bush forfeited the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first player to ever return the prestigious award. Soon after, USC removed his No. 5 jersey from the peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — where all its Heisman Trophy winners’ jersey numbers are displayed.
“They kind of dragged him through the mud,” said former USC All-American offensive lineman and first-round pick Sam Baker, who was in the same recruiting class as Bush. “I was there. I saw him earn every yard. So it’s never sat right with a lot of us that played with us obviously. Felt he was vindicated (today). It’s been really cool.”
USC’s disassociation with Bush created at least one awkward moment. In 2019, Bush returned to the Coliseum with Fox Sports, where he works as an analyst, for USC’s nationally televised game against Utah. The school couldn’t prevent it even though he remained under disassociation, and his presence loomed large.
In the fourth quarter of that game, running back Markese Stepp scored a touchdown and ran toward Bush, dapping up the former Trojans legend. Ironically, Stepp was penalized for excessive celebration.
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— Jordan Moore (@MooreSports) April 24, 2024
The Heisman Trust said it went through a “deliberative process” in which it tracked the massive changes going on through the sport as it determined whether to reinstate Bush’s trophy.
In 2021, facing legislative pressure, the NCAA first introduced a policy allowing student-athletes to receive payments for their NIL. Opinions and attitudes have changed, as has the landscape across college football. Student-athletes are allowed to have relationships with agents now, which is what sparked Bush’s trouble.
“Recognizing that the compensation of student-athletes is an accepted…
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