Heisman Trophy returned to Bush after 14 years
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Reggie Bush has his 2005 Heisman Trophy back, as the Heisman Trust announced Wednesday the formal “reinstatement” of the trophy to Bush amid what it calls “enormous changes in the college football landscape.”
The Heisman Trust’s decision comes after Bush forfeited his Heisman Trophy in 2010 in the wake of significant NCAA sanctions for USC, which included Bush receiving improper benefits during a Trojans career that spanned from 2003 to 2005.
As part of the decision Wednesday, the Heisman Trust is returning the Heisman Trophy to Bush and a replica to USC. Bush will again be invited to all future Heisman Trophy ceremonies, beginning in the 2024 season.
“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 to ESPN. “I also look forward to working together with the Heisman Trust to advance the values and mission of the organization.”
The decision to reinstate the Heisman Trophy was based on a “deliberative process” by the Heisman Trust to monitor a sea change in college athletics in recent years. The Trust cited “fundamental changes in college athletics” in which rules that have allowed “student athlete compensation” to become “an accepted practice and appears here to stay.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Reggie Bush back to the Heisman family in recognition of his collegiate accomplishments,” Michael Comerford, president of The Heisman Trophy Trust, said in a statement. “We considered the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years in deciding that now is the right time to reinstate the trophy for Reggie. We are so happy to welcome him back.”
As rules allowing athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness were enacted in 2021, Bush began lobbying for his trophy to be returned. He released a statement in July 2021 that included criticism of the Heisman Trust, including Comerford not returning Bush’s calls.
There had been a flurry of recent support from Heisman winners for Bush to get the trophy back. The most public came from former Texas A&M star Johnny Manziel, who said earlier this year that he would skip the Heisman Trophy ceremony until Bush’s trophy was returned. Both USC’s Matt Leinart, Bush’s former teammate, and Notre Dame‘s Tim Brown are Heisman winners who have been outspoken publicly about Bush’s trophy being returned.
Manziel reacted to Wednesday’s news on social media, thanking the Heisman Trust for “doing what’s right and welcoming a storied member of our history back into the fold.”
Thank you to the @HeismanTrophy for doing what’s right and welcoming a storied member of our history back into the fold. There were many voices throughout this process that stood on the table for Reggie simply because of the kind of human being he is. I look forward to being on…
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) April 24, 2024
In its decision-making, the Heisman Trust noted the 2021 Supreme Court decision against the NCAA in the Alston case, which the Trust said “questioned the legality of the NCAA’s amateurism model and opened the door to student athlete compensation.”
“Recognizing that the compensation of student athletes is an accepted practice and appears here to stay, these fundamental changes in college athletics led the Trust to decide that now is the right time to return the Trophy to Bush, who unquestionably was the most outstanding college football player of 2005,” the Heisman Trophy Trust said.
USC will now officially have eight Heisman Trophies, giving it the most of any school in the country ahead of the seven each at Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.
Bush forfeited the trophy in September 2010, marking the first time college football’s top award was returned by a recipient. Months earlier, in July, USC gave back its replica of Bush’s trophy in one of the early actions of former athletic director Pat Haden’s tenure.
USC’s sanctions from that investigation included the Bowl Championship Series vacating the 2004 national title, the first time a major college football champion had been stripped of a championship. The NCAA stripped USC of victories in 14 games Bush played, including that BCS title blowout victory over Oklahoma after the 2004 season. (Bush filed a defamation lawsuit against the NCAA in August 2023.)
Bush’s play on the field at USC made him one of this century’s most transcendent college athletes. He averaged 8.5 yards per touch from scrimmage over his career, including rushing for 1,740 yards and 8.7 yards per carry on 200 carries in 2005.
He accounted for 42 career touchdowns over three seasons — 25 rushing, 13 receiving and four on special teams returns. Bush was selected No. 2 overall in the 2006 NFL draft, and only one tailback has been picked that high in the draft since: Saquon Barkley in 2018.
Bush was so dominant in 2005, accounting for 2,890 all-purpose yards, that his 784 first-place votes are the fifth most in Heisman Trophy history.
Nearly two decades after that peerless season, Bush again has his Heisman Trophy.
WASHINGTON — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola‘s first start after returning from the injured list didn’t last long.
The right-hander allowed six runs in 2⅓ innings Sunday against the Washington Nationals, a start that ended when seven consecutive batters reached safely.
Nola struck out four in his first major league outing since May 14.
The former All-Star was one of the majors’ most durable pitchers entering the season, making at least 32 starts and throwing at least 180⅔ innings in each of the last six full seasons. But a sprained right ankle and fractured rib cost him three months this season.
His return became even more significant Saturday when Philadelphia placed ace Zack Wheeler on the injured list with a blood clot in his right arm. Nola already was scheduled to start after making three minor league rehabilitation appearances, though the Phillies scrapped their plans to use a six-man rotation.
Nola gave up Luis Garcia Jr.’s leadoff single in the first inning, then appeared to settle in. He retired the next seven batters as Philadelphia built a 6-0 lead.
The Nationals stitched together three consecutive singles in the third, the last by CJ Abrams to score a run. That led to a mound visit from pitching coach Caleb Cotham, but Nola then walked Paul DeJong before giving up Daylen Lile‘s two-run single and Dylan Crews‘ two-run double. Jose Tena followed with a tying double to end Nola’s day.
Nola allowed seven hits while throwing 53 pitches. His ERA rose to 6.92.
In addition to Nola taking Wheeler’s roster spot, the Phillies activated third baseman Alec Bohm from the injured list and optioned infielder Otto Kemp to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 40-man roster for Nola, Philadelphia released outfielder Cal Stevenson.
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley was designated for assignment on Sunday, with catcher Tyler Stephenson‘s thumb injury and a short bench contributing to the decision.
The Reds also recalled right-hander Connor Phillips and outfielder Will Benson from Triple-A Louisville and optioned left-hander Joe La Sorsa to Triple-A.
“We came to the idea of kind of giving Jake a chance to play where maybe he thinks he deserves to play, which I understand, is maybe better than him sitting the bench here,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “Stephenson is banged up. We were a little concerned about playing short, maybe a two-man bench.”
Fraley, 30, is in his fifth major-league season, his fourth with Cincinnati. He is batting .232 with six home runs and 23 RBI in 67 games.
He hyperextended his knee after making an error in left field to allow a run to score in the 10th inning of a 6-5, 11-inning loss to the first-place Brewers on Saturday. Francona said neither the miscue nor the injury factored into the DFA move.
Stephenson reaggravated an injury to his left thumb during the Pittsburgh series and is day to day. Jose Trevino, who was behind the plate Saturday night, got the start for Sunday’s day game.
Francona said the decision on Fraley, a popular player among fans and in the clubhouse, wasn’t easy.
“Not that I needed an excuse to lose sleep last night, but you do, because you’re thinking about it,” Francona said. “You’re making decisions that alter their life. The day when I stop thinking about it, I will re-retire.”
Cincinnati, the only team this season that hasn’t been swept in a series, has dropped the first two games of the three-game set against the Brewers, who have won 14 straight games.
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