Manziel stiff-arms Heisman ceremony over Bush
-
Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
Johnny Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, said Saturday that he will not attend the annual Heisman Trophy ceremony until the NCAA returns former USC running back Reggie Bush’s trophy, which was stripped from him following NCAA sanctions.
“After careful thought and consideration I will be humbly removing myself from the Heisman trophy ceremony until @ReggieBush gets his trophy back,” Manziel posted on X. “Doesn’t sit right with my morals and values that he can’t be on that stage with us every year. Reggie IS the Heisman trophy. Do the RIGHT thing @NCAA the ball is in your court.”
Bush and USC each returned their copies of his 2005 Heisman Trophy after a four-year NCAA investigation determined that during his Trojans career, Bush and his family accepted cash, travel expenses and a home in the San Diego area where Bush’s parents lived rent-free for more than a year and for which they were provided $10,000 to furnish from agents hoping to sign the star.
Bush’s NCAA sanctions were delivered in 2010, and they mandated that Bush disassociate from USC and included a two-year postseason ban for the school, 14 vacated victories (including the 2004 BCS national championship) and the loss of 30 scholarships. His 10-year disassociation period ended in June 2020.
In July 2021, on the day name, image and likeness (NIL) rights were granted to athletes by the NCAA, allowing them to profit in the same way Bush did, he released a statement requesting his Heisman and NCAA statistics be reinstated.
“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,” Bush said.
The Heisman Trust said shortly thereafter that it would look forward to “welcoming him back to the Heisman family” if the NCAA opted to reinstate him. But the NCAA declined.
“Although college athletes can now receive benefits from their names, images and likenesses through activities like endorsements and appearances, NCAA rules still do not permit pay-for-play type arrangements,” an NCAA spokesperson said in 2021. “The NCAA infractions process exists to promote fairness in college sports. The rules that govern fair play are voted on, agreed to and expected to be upheld by all NCAA member schools.”
Bush sued the NCAA in August 2023 for defamation for that “pay-for-play” statement, saying he was given $1,000 a month for expenses, with none of it coming from USC or anyone affiliated with the university. The NCAA filed a motion for dismissal in November.
In the news conference to announce the lawsuit, held at USC’s Coliseum, Bush said he had been asked by USC to lead the team out of the tunnel many times but would not do it until he was reinstated.
“I’ve got dreams of coming back in this stadium and running out of that tunnel with the football team,” Bush said. “I’ve got dreams of walking back in here and seeing my jersey, my banner, right down there next to the rest of the Heisman Trophy winners. But I can’t rightfully do that without my Heisman Trophy.”
Manziel, who was suspended for one-half of a game in 2013 for taking money to sign autographs while at Texas A&M, recently spoke out about Bush’s exile on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast, “Club Shay Shay.”
“What Reggie did then is legal now that somebody could do, right?” Manziel said. “It wouldn’t make him ineligible now, even though it did at the time. And in the grand scheme of things, I probably did way worse than Reggie.”
Manziel said former winners discuss Bush’s situation at the ceremony every year.
“There’s chatter, there’s chirp going around that nobody in this crew, in this Heisman fraternity, it [doesn’t sit] right with us that Reggie ain’t up there with us every year,” Manziel said. “It makes every one of us sitting there — Troy Smith, all these guys that I sit next to — he deserves to be on that stage with us every year. Unequivocally, without a doubt, without a question, one of the best college football players to ever lace ’em up and a very, very good argument, to be the best ever in college football.”
Sharpe asked Manziel if he thought there was a chance Bush could get the Heisman back.
“What I’ve been told is that Reggie can’t get his Heisman Trophy back until the NCAA makes his records and his accolades on the field for that year reinstated,” Manziel said. “As we know what the NCAA is now, what do you think the chances are that they’re going to do the right thing? Not looking likely. It’s sad. From the top down, from the NCAA, they’ve been so wrong with so many things that you would hope that one day they would do the right thing and do this.
“I’m going to continue to do everything that I can in my power, whatever that may be. … But for what I can in my part, I will always stand on this table right here for Reggie Bush and do anything that I can in my power to make sure that it’s possible for him to even get his trophy back.”
LOS ANGELES — Veteran forward Evander Kane made his season debut for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Defenseman John Klingberg also returned from a lengthy injury absence as the Oilers attempted to even the series.
Kane is a 15-year NHL veteran who hasn’t played for the Oilers since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final last June. He had surgery last September to repair a sports hernia, and he underwent knee surgery in January.
Kane was slotted on to the Oilers’ second line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.
Klingberg hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury while blocking a shot March 27 in Seattle. The Swedish veteran signed with Edmonton in January after going unsigned early in the season, but he played in only 11 games while dealing with multiple injuries.
The Oilers are hoping Klingberg can help their blue line, which frequently struggled in the Kings’ 6-5 victory in Game 1.
Jeff Skinner was scratched by the Oilers to make room for Kane. The 15-year NHL veteran forward made his Stanley Cup playoff debut in Game 1, recording an assist.
-
Ryan S. Clark
Chris Drury and the New York Rangers agreed to a multiyear contract extension on Wednesday, keeping him at the helm of the team’s hockey operations after missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
“I am pleased that Chris will continue to lead the Rangers hockey operations in his role as president and general manager,” Madison Square Garden chairman and CEO James Dolan said in a statement. “Over his tenure, Chris has shown passion for the Rangers, relentless work ethic and a tireless pursuit of excellence.
“While we are all disappointed in what transpired this past season, I am confident in his ability to guide this organization to success.”
Drury, 48, took over as general manager and president of hockey operations at the start of the 2021-22 season. The Rangers reached the playoffs in his first three seasons.
His future was one of a few items that remained in question, with the intent that the Rangers would use this offseason to reload in their bid to return to the playoffs. The team also is facing a third coaching search in four seasons after firing Peter Laviolette following his two seasons.
“I am honored to sign this contract extension and continue in this position with the team I grew up supporting,” said Drury, a former Rangers captain who played four seasons with the team. “As I said when I began in this role nearly four years ago, there isn’t a more special organization in hockey, and I look forward to continuing our work this offseason to help us reach our goals for next season and in the coming years.”
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the Eastern Conference finals under Laviolette in the 2023-24 season, the Rangers started 12-4-1 this season, only to lose the next five games. That started a chain reaction of inconsistent play that ultimately led to the Rangers finishing six points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
While the Rangers sought to make the playoffs, Drury also made it known they were open for business in December. That’s when they traded captain Jacob Trouba, who still had a year left on his contract, to the Anaheim Ducks. A few weeks later, they traded Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, who would then sign an extension with the Rangers.
A month before the trade deadline, the Rangers reacquired J.T. Miller in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers also traded defenseman Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche and forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights while adding defensemen Carson Soucy in a separate deal with the Canucks.
Still, the Rangers lost four consecutive games in early March before having two three-game losing streaks that further damaged their chances in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.
Now that Drury has a new contract, he’ll be charged with trying to improve a roster that PuckPedia projects will have only $9.67 million in available cap space. K’Andre Miller, Zac Jones and Matt Rempe are part of the club’s eight-player restricted free agent class, while the Rangers have only two unrestricted free agents in Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Calvin de Haan.
Drury will be looking for a coach in what is expected to be a competitive market. Anaheim and Seattle also fired their coaches, and three other teams — Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia — ended the season with interim coaches. The Canucks declined the option on coach Rick Tocchet, but they have offered him a new, more lucrative contract.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway