A dozen billboards demanding the return of Reggie Bush’s Heisman have sprouted up across L.A. today.
The campaign is courtesy of longtime donor Brian Kennedy, who told @latimes that Bush had no idea the billboards were going up. pic.twitter.com/tZMlWYc2Sw
— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) April 26, 2023
Take a drive around Los Angeles and you’ll probably spot a bold statement from USC megadonor Brian Kennedy (whose name headlines the Trojans’ practice field), who purchased a dozen billboards demanding the NCAA return the Heisman Trophy taken from legendary running back Reggie Bush in the wake of a recruiting scandal within the Trojans’ organization. The former New Orleans Saints star remains the only player in the history of the award to give up his Heisman Trophy, having been the subject of an investigation into improper recruiting benefits in college.
But everything Bush was accused of is now functionally legal under the name-image-likeness era (NIL). After being embarrassed in front of the courts in the nation’s capital, the NCAA has opened the floodgates to allow student-athletes to receive paid sponsorships and the exact sort of benefits they hammered Bush and USC for back in the day. It’s past time they rectified this mistake and returned Bush’s trophy.
The decision to strip Bush’s trophy from him remains one of the NCAA’s most glaring farces of justice — his head coach at the time, Pete Carroll, ran off to the NFL without so much as a slap on the wrist. Bush’s accomplishments on the field as a 19-year-old were wiped away while his 53-year-old coach and the many adults surrounding him escaped scot-free. Sooner or alter, the NCAA needs to do what’s right and recognize what its mistakes have done to Bush and his legacy as one of the most exciting college football players of all time.
