Reggie Bush to forfeit Heisman, as he should
Reggie Bush is giving back his 2005 Heisman Trophy award.
Good – he should.
Not to sound preachy, but when you mess up in life, there are usually consequences that you eventually have to face. Granted, those consequences may come later down the road, but eventually karma catches up with people.
Bush did something wrong at USC. An argument that often gets brought up in relation to this topic is whether or not you or another athlete would have done the same thing (i.e. accept gifts from an agent, booster or what have you). But that’s irrelevant. The point is that he screwed up and until now, he didn’t have to pay for his actions.
But USC certainly did, now didn’t they? They had to forfeit all of their wins during Bush’s tenure with the program and also had to cough up scholarships for future recruiting. Considering Bush broke rules under their watch, they should have been punished and they were. It’s not fair to the current players that they were punished because of what Bush did, but unfortunately they’re the only true victims here.
Some are going to claim that Bush shouldn’t have to give back the award because it was earned for what he did on the field. I buy that and I certainly don’t disagree. But he can’ t keep his Heisman, his Super Bowl ring and his millions of dollars from the NFL while USC is stuck footing the bill for mistakes that he made.
Life doesn’t work like that – what goes around comes around, which is a notion that Bush was just reminded of.
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Posted in: College Football, NFL
taking money or using a house doesnt make you a Heisman athlete. Bush’s “personal” choices effected things he didnt cheat to help himself on the field. He broke rules from the NCAA and hence his status would not have been allowed, fine doesnt mean he was one of the best college RB ever.
Also, every college programs breaks a number of rules. No one should feel bad for poor USC.
They just got caught.
Like I said in the article John, I don’t disagree with anyone that shares your thoughts. And again, I agree that taking money has nothing to do with winning the Heisman.
But if I’m not feeling bad for poor USC, I’d like to go ahead and not feel bad for poor Reggie Bush either. He did something that he wasn’t supposed to do and he too got caught. On some level, he should have to suffer the consequences and if that means him forfeiting his Heisman, then so be it.
26mil up front,48mil contract, adidas and pepsi deals. I dont feel sorry for Bush in the least.
TRUST me on that. Nor do I feel bad for him for giving up the trophy.
I just dont see how this means anything to football as far as the award goes.
Its not called the “he is the most ethical and morally correct athlete” trophy.
Thats all.
I’m with you – and good point about the trophy.
But this is about the only way he gets “punished” for the mistake he made off the field at USC.
Either way, as you alluded to – he’s got more than enough going on not to lose too much sleep over coughing up the award. He can sleep with his Super Bowl ring if he gets too lonely…