For the first time since USC received a two-year bowl ban from the NCAA, Reggie Bush spoke openly about how the situation has affected him.

From the New Orleans Times Picayune:

“For the people who say … well I’ve heard people say that I don’t really care about this too much and I just brush it off my shoulders. Those people don’t know me. Because this thing regarding USC and the NCAA is to me the closest thing to death without dying,” Bush said in his opening statement. “Because I have such a great love and respect for the University of (Southern) California, this has been one of the toughest things I’ve had to deal with in my life. But at the same time whether it’s all true or all wrong or whether we’re guilty or not guilty, it’s still my responsibility and I have to accept that. And I have to deal with it as it is and try to manage it as best as I can. With that, we plan to aid USC as much as possible in the appeal with the NCAA. I’m gonna do everything I can to make it right, to make it better, and that’s really all I can do.

“It sucks because like I said I have such a strong love and passion for USC. It’s almost like shaming your dad in a sense. You know, you go through life trying to represent the different companies or sports marketing companies or USC or whatever it is that you represent as best as possible. So when things like this happen it’s really unfortunate. It’s terrible that this was brought on USC. Another reason why it hurts so much is that I come from a strong family, I was raised well, I was raised to do the right thing. And the fact that this happened is unfortunate. So when my family name is at stake or USC or the New Orleans Saints or whoever it is that I represent, because of me, it hurts.”

Some people want to blame Bush for everything that has transpired at USC over the past two weeks. But the blame is three-pronged: USC, the two agents that supplied Bush and his family with the gifts, and Bush himself are all to blame here.

Bush should be held accountable for what happened because even though he was only a kid in some respects, he was old enough to know right from wrong. He had to have a suspicion that something was wrong, seeing as how not every player’s family was receiving free housing. And shame on his family for taking advantage of the situation and not insisting that Bush go to the university right away and being open about what was going on.

Since Bush chose to accept the gifts, he should be punished, just as USC was punished for not having a better grasp of what was going on. Bush was the most recognizable athlete on their campus during his playing days – somebody should have known that he and his family were receiving gifts and put a stop to it.

What cracks me up about this is that guys like Bush and Pete Carroll are surprised about how this situation went down. How else could it have ended? The kid was getting free shit for years and nobody did anything about it.

Nothing in life is free.


Photo from fOTOGLIF