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The Heisman Trophy Trust is expected to strip former University of Southern California star running back Reggie Bush of college football’s top honor by the end of September, sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Bush would become the first player in the 75-year history of the award to have the trophy taken away. The NCAA found major violations in the Trojans’ football program in June and levied serious sanctions against the school.
Two sources close to the Heisman trust said the body’s investigation is coming to a close, and will ultimately concur with the NCAA’s determination that Bush was ineligible during his Heisman-winning season in 2005. Because of that independent conclusion, sources said the trust will relieve Bush of the award and leave the honor for that season vacant. The sources said Bush met with Heisman representatives last month at the New York law offices of Emmet, Marvin & Martin. The sources would not reveal details of that meeting.
Bush, now a standout with the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, could not immediately be reached for comment.
It appears as if the Heisman Trophy Trust is about to strip Reggie Bush of his 2005 trophy.
Julie Jacobson/AP
The Heisman trust has been conducting its own independent inquiry into Bush’s eligibility since the NCAA ruled in June that the USC star had committed multiple violations by accepting cash, gifts and other impermissible benefits while playing for the Trojans. Yahoo! Sports first detailed the extra benefits in September 2006. In its findings, the NCAA retroactively ruled Bush ineligible for part of the 2004 season and all of 2005. The NCAA also ordered the USC program to remove all references to Bush from its sporting venues and promotional materials and vacate his statistics from all games in which he was ineligible.
In July, incoming USC president C.L. Max Nikias announced that the university would be returning its copy of Bush’s Heisman to the trust, stating the Trojans would honor and respect athletes who “did not compromise their athletic program or the opportunities of future USC student-athletes.” New USC athletic director Pat Haden followed up in August, stating during an interview with the Dan Patrick radio show that Bush should also voluntarily return his Heisman.
While others pressed for a swift decision, the trust opted for a patient, meticulous effort. Sources said the trust did its own detailed investigation over the past three months, using a litany of resources and reviewing its information against the NCAA’s findings. The trust also offered Bush a chance to impact the decision.
The process apparently came with considerable debate – in part because of the trust’s quest for due process, but also because of the unique nature of the decision. Never in the history of the award has the trust been forced to retroactively rule on the eligibility of a past winner. That reality, along with the NCAA’s findings, created a tangled knot of deliberation regarding the trust’s place in the role of enforcement. Sources said the prominent issues discussed included accountability, on-field vs. off-field conduct, implications of retroactively stripping an award and possible impact on future athletes and the NCAA.
Two factors outweighed all others, sources said: The Heisman ballot necessitates candidates be in compliance with NCAA bylaws and concern over the Heisman’s reputation in the wake of the NCAA findings against Bush.
The status of USC’s 2004 Bowl Championship Series national title remains to be determined. BCS officials are awaiting the NCAA’s ruling on the Trojans’ appeal of the June finding.
Originally Posted by JohninGpt:
OJ didn't murder anyone that season.
I wonder if murder is explicitly against the rules anyway. If I was OJ I'd be pounding the rulebook saying, "Show me where it says I can't murder someone! Show me!" [Reply]
Originally Posted by jspchief:
Of course they still count. He still helped his team win. He still helped his team get to the title game. He still helped return USC to greatness. He still gave football fans exciting play to watch. He won the Heisman for what he did on the field, not for his dedication to NCAA off field rules.
An eraser doesn't change any of that.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter. These awards aren't what make college football what it is. The guys out there on the field are.
True, but there is no official record of any of it now. [Reply]
eh who cares, he won it outright, he was hands down the best college player the couple years he was considered for the heisman, if Leinart wasn't at USC he would have won it twice.
Not only is this stupid, but do you know how much money the fuckin NCAA made off of Reggie Bush while he was at USC? NCAA being a little hypocritical here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Spott:
I was wondering the same thing. I don't think they could actually come in Bush's house and take his trophy from him.
Unless they have some deal where they still retain ownership of the trophy and the recipient only gets to hold it, I don't see how they could. I suppose he could voluntarily return it, but I doubt if he would. I mean seriously, what are they going to do - ban him from playing for USC again? I think that ship has sailed.
It's not like Bush concocted this scheme - he was just a participant. [Reply]
The Heisman Trophy Trust is denying a Yahoo! Sports report that the trust is expected to strip former USC running back Reggie Bush of his 2005 Heisman Trophy and leave the award vacant.
"I can tell you the Heisman Trophy Trust has made no decision regarding the Reggie Bush situation," Robert Whalen, executive director of the Heisman Trophy Trust, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Two sources close to the trust told Yahoo! Sports that the organization is completing its investigation and will agree with the NCAA's finding that Bush accepted improper benefits while at USC and was ineligible during the 2005 season, according to the report. The NCAA cited USC for "lack of institutional control" and handed the Trojans four years' probation, a two-year bowl ban and a reduction in football scholarships.
The Heisman Trophy Trust will reportedly strip Reggie Bush of the Heisman Trophy he won in a landslide in 2005.
The president of the Heisman Trophy Trust, William J. Dockery, reiterated that the reports were inaccurate.
"The status of the USC/Bush matter remains unchanged. Any reports to the contrary are inaccurate," Dockery said.
ESPN's Chris Fowler told "SportsCenter" that although members of the eight-person trust have had informal conversations among themselves about what to do about Bush's Heisman, "they certainly have not made any decision" about rescinding it.
"They haven't made a decision. No announcement is imminent," Fowler said Tuesday. "They have not had any formal meetings about this."
Dockery has said the Heisman Trophy Trust meets on the second Tuesday of every month.
Bush would become the first player in the 75-year history of the Heisman Trophy to have the award taken away.
In July, USC president C.L. Max Nikias ordered the school's athletic department to return its copy of Bush's 2005 Heisman to the Heisman Trophy Trust. Nikias also ordered the school to remove nearly all references to Bush and former basketball player O.J. Mayo, including murals, as part of the NCAA's directive to disassociate the school from the athletes.
As that time, Bush had not been asked to return his copy and the Heisman Trophy Trust said it had not yet decided whether Bush would be stripped of the award.
Bush met with Heisman representatives last month at the New York law offices of Emmet, Marvin & Martin, the sources said, according to the Yahoo report.
The sources declined to discuss the details of that meeting, according to the report.
Bush now plays for the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, who said Tuesday that they would have no comment on the report.
Typically, the Saints have declined comment on Bush's NCAA violations because they have no bearing on his pro career.
Team headquarters also were closed to reporters on Tuesday.
Bush's Los Angeles-based attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP.
Last week, Texas coach Mack Brown said former Longhorns quarterback Vince Young, who finished second in the 2005 Heisman voting to Bush, should be given the award if Bush is stripped. Young led the Longhorns past USC to the BCS national championship that year, after Bush was awarded the Heisman in a landslide.
The NCAA ruled that Bush received lavish gifts from two fledgling sports marketers hoping to sign him. The men paid for everything from hotel stays and a rent-free home where Bush's family apparently lived to a limousine and a new suit when he accepted his Heisman in New York in December 2005.
In July, when USC said it would give back its copy of the 2005 trophy, the Heisman Trophy Trust said it had no timetable on a decision and would make no additional statements on the matter.
"The Trust will be considering the issues raised in the USC/Reggie Bush matter, and after reaching a decision will publish it, but due to the complex issues involved and the Trust's desire to reach an appropriate decision, no definitive timetable has been established," the trust said. "Until the matter has been fully considered and a decision is reached, the Trust has no further comment." [Reply]
maybe they'll hire oj to burst into reggie's house and take it back. he has experience with that sort of thing, and it's even specific to football memorabilia. Posted via Mobile Device [Reply]
