Report: Former USC running back Reggie Bush to be stripped of 2005 Heisman Trophy
Sources report that the Heisman Trophy Trust will strip former USC running back Reggie Bush of his 2005 Heisman Trophy. If Bush is stripped of the trophy it is expected that the trust will decide to leave the award vacant.
Two sources said that the trust has been involved with an ongoing investigation into Bush. The NCAA has already completed an investigation and found that Bush did accept gifts from two sports marketers that were trying to sign Bush.
In June the NCAA informed USC that it had completed its investigation in the matter and found Bush had accepted, among other items, hotel stays, a rent free home for the Bush family, as well as the suit in which Bush accepted the Heisman Trophy.
The NCAA cited USC for a lack of institutional control and handed down penalties that included four years probation, the loss of 30 football scholarships over three years, and losing 14 victories in which Bush played for the Trojans between December 2004 through the 2005 NCAA season.
In July USC president C.L. Max Nikias ordered that the school’s copy of the Heisman Trophy be returned to the trust. Nikias also ordered the school to remove all references to Bush from campus before the incoming class arrived on campus.
Last week the Football Writers Association of America stripped USC of the 2004 Grantland Rice Trophy. The trophy was named for the sports writer that coined the phrase “The Four Horseman” for the 1924 Notre Dame backfield and is presented to the national championship team as voted on by the FWAA members.
Texas quarterback Vince Young finished second in voting to Bush for the Heisman in 2005. Young led the Longhorns to victory over Bush and the USC Trojans at that Rose Bowl game in January 2006. Young’s former coach, Mack Brown, has made a push to have the Heisman awarded to Young if Bush is stripped of the award.
Tags: