It is about time, better late than never. It seems like it took forever, but it is finally happening: Reggie Bush is getting his 2005 Heisman Trophy back.
According to college football reporter Pete Thamel of ESPN, the Heisman Trust will be formally “reinstating” Bush on Wednesday, 14 years after the USC football legend forfeited his Heisman Trophy due to the major penalties imposed against his alma mater.
With the establishment of NIL rights in college sports, the NCAA landscape is significantly different in 2024 than it was back in 2010. Because of that, Bush is being reinstated to his rightful place among the Heisman family.
Bush will receive his original trophy back and a replica will be awarded to USC, Thamel reported. It will give them eight overall, the most in college football history, just ahead of Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame, each with seven. Another benefit of being reinstated is Bush will be invited to be a part of all Heisman events starting with the 2024 season.
Embed from Getty Images“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 in a statement. “I also look forward to working together with the Heisman Trust to advance the values and mission of the organization.”
Bush won his Heisman in 2005, but it was essentially stripped away from him five years later in 2010 after an NCAA investigation (which was spearheaded by extensive investigative reporting by Yahoo Sports) found that Bush and his family had received impermissible benefits from marketing agents while he was a student-athlete. USC had to vacate all wins Bush participated in while ineligible, including the Trojans’ 2004 BCS national championship, and his stats from that season were wiped away clean. Those findings also resulted in an NCAA-mandated break between Bush and the University, which ended in 2020 when the school officially welcomed Bush back into the fold.
A year later, Bush made his overall intentions clear: he wanted his Heisman Trophy back and he wanted the NCAA to reinstate his records. He and his team had reached out to the NCAA and the Heisman Trust but had not gotten a response.
Bush was so dominant in 2005, accounting for 2,890 yards from scrimmage, that his 784 first-place votes are the fifth most in Heisman Trophy history.
The Heisman Trust was not touched by Bush’s emotional plea, and vehemently refused to return his 2005 trophy to him until the NCAA reinstated him. And despite the NIL rules changing, the NCAA said it would not be making any adjustments to its stats.
Even with all of the turmoil surrounding him, Bush was still elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023 despite his Heisman having been vacated, but his desire to reclaim his trophy had not diminished. In August 2023, Bush announced he was suing the NCAA for defamation in the hopes of forcing them to reinstate his records, which could have also led to him getting his trophy back.
Now, even without that suit having been resolved, the Heisman Trust will reinstate Bush on Wednesday and return his trophy. It is unclear whether this will have any bearing on Bush’s standing with the NCAA or the lawsuit.
