Why Did Reggie Bush Lose his Heisman Trophy? With New Rules, Should He Get It Back?

It seems kinda weird that one of the greatest college football players of all time, someone that’s in the College Football Hall of Fame, was stripped of his Heisman Trophy for off-field benefits. Non-criminal off-field benefits. Benefits the NCAA is now OK with.

Reggie Bush won the 2005 Heisman Trophy. He gave it back in 2010 to the NCAA. Since 2021 he has been vocal about wanting it back. Now there's even a defamation lawsuit.

Reggie voluntarily returned his Heisman back after an NCAA investigation found he received benefits of thousands of dollars and a vehicle that were not allowed at the time. Due to new NCAA rules, all of that is now allowed.

In 2021, the NCAA clarified that, even with their new rules, Reggie will not be getting his Heisman back. According to ESPN, the NCAA said that "Bush's 2005 season records remain vacated by the NCAA and, as a result, under the rule set forth by the Heisman Trust and stated on the Heisman Ballot, he is not eligible to be awarded the 2005 Heisman Memorial Trophy."

"One of the greatest honors of my life was winning the Heisman Trophy in 2005,” Reggie said in 2010. “For me, it was a dream come true. And I know that any young man fortunate enough to win the Heisman enters into a family of sorts. Each individual carries the legacy of the award and each one is entrusted with its good name. It is for these reasons that I have made the difficult decision to forfeit my title as Heisman winner of 2005."

In an episode of the NFL Players: Second Act podcast released on Jan. 26, 2023, the running back talked at length about the award. “I didn't want to give it back. So let me just go ahead and say that this was not something that I wanted to do. It was just something in that time period I felt was the right thing to do.”

Later on in the episode he talks about how sooner or later, he expects the trophy to come back to him. “But do I believe it's gonna come back? I've always felt that way in my heart of hearts. I've always felt like that, you know, [...] I always felt like once the facts come out, you know, the trophy is gonna come back.”

Reggie filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for defamation in August 2023. In October 2023, the NCAA filed a motion to dismiss the case. A few months later, Reggie was honored by the College Football Hall of Fame.

In December 2023, Reggie was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame. His Hall of Fame biography begins, "One of the most dynamic players in the history of college football, Reggie Bush helped Southern California claim two national championships and a 37-2 record during his three years playing in Los Angeles." It does not mention him winning (or returning) the Heisman Trophy.

What's interesting about this bio is that one of those aforementioned national championships that Reggie helped USC win was vacated as part of the sanctions levied against USC following the same NCAA investigation that led to Reggie returning the Heisman.

NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer, ESPN talking head, and host of the wildly popular Club Shay Shay podcast Shannon Sharpe had Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel on his Feb. 22, 2024 episode. Johnny, no stranger to controversy, absolutely believes Reggie should be given his Heisman back. “It’s legal now, what Reggie did then is legal now. In the grand scheme of things, I probably did way worse than Reggie,” Johnny says.

Based on what Johnny says on the show and on Twitter, it seems like fellow Heisman Trophy winners want Reggie to be back with them. “The way I was told, the last three or four years, I’ve been walking back into the Heisman, rallying the board, talking with the guys, there’s chatter, there’s chirp going around, nobody in this crew, this Heisman fraternity, sits rights with us that Reggie ain’t up there with us. He deserves to be up on that stage with us. Without a doubt.”