Reggie Bush has been reinstated as the 2005 NCAA Heisman Trophy winner and will have his trophy returned to him after forfeiting it in 2010. The 39-year-old former football star shared a photo of the trophy on Instagram with the caption, “No one can take from you what God has for you.”
Announced on Wednesday (April 24), The Heisman Trust returned Reggie Bush’s honor and invited him and USC to future Heisman Trophy ceremonies starting in 2024. Bush forfeited his Heisman Trophy due to allegations of receiving improper benefits during his USC career from 2003 to 2005, leading to significant NCAA sanctions.
USC lost their 2004 national title and got sanctioned by the NCAA. They were stripped of 14 victories in Bush’s games, including the BCS title win against Oklahoma.
The reinstatement was decided after a deliberative process by the Heisman Trust. The Trust cited fundamental changes in college athletics that have made student-athlete compensation an accepted practice.
Bush shared a statement with ESPN after the news. It reads: “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. I also look forward to working with the Heisman Trust to advance the values and mission of the organization.”
“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.”
Bush’s journey to reinstatement spawned attention in 2021 after a ruling to allow athletes to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness was enacted.
The Heisman Trophy Trust returned the Trophy to Bush, citing the 2021 Supreme Court decision against the NCAA in the Alston case, which 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.
Bush’s 2,890 all-purpose yards in 2005 earned him the fifth most first-place votes in Heisman Trophy history, with 784.