Reggie Bush and the Heisman trophy
They Heisman trophy IS and always has been the elite trophy in collegiate sports today. I’m talking all sports. It gets more hype and has more prestige than any other award in amateur athletics. In fact, it has as much prestige as just about any other sports award for that matter. Having said that, Reggie Bush may be giving his back very soon and I don’t know if that is the right choice. Let’s look at the two sides.
Reggie Bush allegedly received improper benefits while at USC and as a result USC was put on probation and forced to give up some scholaships. The team has a new unproven coach who has some big shoes to fill but it seems funny to me that we punish today’s kids for yesterday’s actions. Nothing hits a school harder than a monetary fine but they didn’t go that route. Instead, USC lost a bunch of scholarships and was forced to vacate a number of wins during the Bush era. Reggie still denies these events took place.
Recently the new AD at USC also took down any reference to Bush winning the heisman and even took down the replica trophy that was in the display case. This shows how USC views the actions that took place with one of their own all time greats so what is the Heisman committee going to do?
I think the trophy is as good as gone. I think they are going to take it back to send a strong message. The Heisman trophy is about all that is supposed to be good about college football and not anything else. It is the best of the best and Reggie Bush’s ‘alleged’ behavior and choices clearly show something else. In my opinion, it is only a matter of time before they come calling for the trophy that Bush earned with his play.
That’s the flip side to this…Is the Heisman trophy about the player or the combination of the player/person? If it is just the player then Bush deserves to keep the award. He was the single most exciting college football player I have seen since Michael Vick and he was a leader on one of the most talented teams in the history of collegiate sports. They won a national title during his time there and if the Heisman is about the player then he should keep it.
Nothing in college sports is about the player, it is all about the team and the education that one should be receiving. If it is found that the behavior was against the rules then take the trophy back and send a strong message to the youth of today.
