Former University of Southern California running back Reggie Bush is getting his Heisman Trophy reinstated nearly 14 years after the trophy’s Trust took it from him after it was learned his family profited from his collegiate career.
ESPN reported Wednesday that in the era of players jumping from school to school and cashing in on their names, images, and likeness, the Heisman Trophy Trust ruled Bush deserved to have the highest honor in college football — one he earned on the field — returned to him.
Breaking: Reggie Bush is getting his 2005 Heisman Trophy back, amid what the Heisman Trust calls “enormous changes in the college football landscape,” @petethamel has learned.
Bush forfeited his Heisman Trophy in 2010 in the wake of significant NCAA sanctions for USC. pic.twitter.com/q9XgMELf8d
— ESPN (@espn) April 24, 2024
The Trust said it reversed the 2010 decision to take the trophy away citing “enormous changes in the college football landscape.”
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USC will also receive a replica of the trophy Bush won during a stellar 2005 season.
In a comment to ESPN, Bush expressed his elation.
“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.
The current college football analyst added, ”I also look forward to working together with the Heisman Trust to advance the values and mission of the organization.”
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The Heisman Trophy Trust issued its own statement in which it clarified keeping Bush on the outs was no longer justified — given the fact that players being compensated financially has become the sport’s standard.
“We are thrilled to welcome Reggie Bush back to the Heisman family in recognition of his collegiate accomplishments,” Trust President Michael Comerford told ESPN.
Comerford concluded, “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 ends a 14-year campaign to restore the trophy to Bush, whose family accepted improper gifts beginning in 2004, Bleacher Report noted.
That campaign heated up in recent months.
Johnny Manziel, the first player to win a Heisman as a freshman, announced last month he was effectively boycotting the Trust until Bush’s trophy was returned to him.
After careful thought and consideration I will be humbly removing myself from the Heisman trophy ceremony until @ReggieBush gets his trophy back. Doesn’t sit right with my morals and values that he can’t be on that stage with us every year. Reggie IS the Heisman trophy.
Do the…
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) March 2, 2024
Bush played for USC from 2003 to 2005 and was part of the Trojans’ 2004 BCS National Championship team.
The next season, Bush won the Heisman, but USC lost in the final seconds of the title game to the Texas Longhorns.
The now-39-year-old was the only former winner to lose the trophy.
Not even O.J. Simpson lost his Heisman Trophy after he was accused but cleared of the 1994 double murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
