Former USC running back Reggie Bush revealed new details on his quest to reclaim his 2005 Heisman Trophy.
Bush, who led the Trojans to back-to-back national championships under Pete Carroll, received heavy sanctions from the NCAA in 2010 for allegedly receiving impermissible benefits from a marketing agency during his days as a USC student athlete. As a result, Bush’s Heisman was vacated.
On Friday, Bush stated that NCAA’s investigation into his career at USC was a “sloppy” one.
“I never interviewed with the Heisman trust,” Bush said in a video with I AM ATHLETE. “We had a conference call, so they made a decision to take the Heisman Trophy based on a conference call, and based on some information they got through the NCAA. The NCAA didn’t do their homework.”
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Bush’s latest comments come after he issued a statement to the Heisman trust in July 2021, stating that he had reached out to both the NCAA and the trust in regard to the “reinstatement” of his college records and the return of his Heisman Trophy.
“We left multiple messages for Michael Comerford, the President of the Heisman trust, but instead received a call from Rob Whalen, the executive director, who stated that Mr. Comerford would not be calling us back and that, in any event, they could help us,” Bush wrote in a statement. “We reached out to the NCAA on multiple occasions and received no help or got no response at all. It is my strong belief that I won the Heisman trophy ‘solely’ due to my hard work and dedication on the football field and it is also my firm belief that my records should be reinstated.”
Nearly two weeks after issuing his previous statement, the former NFL star announced a partnership with Believe Entertainment Group to detail his story on the NCAA erasing him from the record books and vacating his Heisman Trophy.
During his USC career, Bush rushed for 3,169 yards while recording 1,301 receiving yards, 25 rushing touchdowns and 13 receiving touchdowns. In his Heisman-winning season, he ran for 1,740 and 16 touchdowns.
