Bush Gets Trophy Back

By Jim Gazzolo

The leaders of college football have never been good about admitting when they are wrong. 

Wednesday that changed as Reggie Bush was given back his Heisman Trophy.

The former USC and New Orleans Saints running back was forced to forfeit his 2005 award as college football’s best player as fallout from a recruiting scandal while he was a Trojan.

That came in 2010, five years after he had left the USC campus. 

Since then, there has been a push for Bush to get back his trophy, but it still took 14 years for the Heisman Trust to welcome him back into its mix.

Not only is that too long, but the award never should have been taken away from Bush in the first place. 

By far Bush was the best player in college football that season, lifting USC to the national title game which it dramatically lost to Texas. It took five years for the NCAA to come down fully on USC and Bush, who was playing in New Orleans at the time, lost his award.

With all that has changed in college sports that decision doesn’t sit well now, not that it really ever did.

“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.”

Bush and his family were at the center of the USC scandal, but he wasn’t alone. He seemed to lose more than others and be singled out while the rest of that Trojan team, coaches included, were able to just move on.

It’s also not like Bush is the only USC Heisman winner to be accused of any wrongdoing, but that other guy never had to give up his trophy. 

To his credit, Bush has always taken the high road in all this. He did so again on Wednesday.

“Personally, I’m thrilled to reunite with my fellow Heisman winners and be a part of the storied legacy of the Heisman Trophy, and I’m honored to return to the Heisman family,” Bush said in a statement to ESPN. “I also look forward to working together with the Heisman Trust to advance the values and mission of the organization.”

Bush played 11 seasons with the Saints, helping them win the only Super Bowl in the franchise’s history. He was welcomed back into the Heisman fraternity by fellow members who took to social media to voice their joy.

As for the Heisman Trust, they fixed what they had broken which is a good thing no matter how long it took.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles