College football great, Reggie Bush, graciously, civilly and voluntarily gave up his 2005 Heisman Trophy Tuesday, Sept. 14 after years of heavy scrutiny for receiving benefits to aid him through college. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) forbids athletes to receive help outside the immediate family, arguing that it gives an unfair advantage to the player. And while that may be true, it doesn’t mean that Reggie Bush had to give up his Heisman Trophy, does it?
- Former USC running back Reggie Bush returned his Heismann Trophy last week for NCAA violations that accured during his career at the school.
Reggie Bush was receiving money to stay in hotel rooms, dine out, purchase new clothes and other items. By law, in this case the NCAA rules, he indeed has to relinquish the title. He broke a rule known by the athletes and tried to cheat the system. Bush had to give up his title one way or another. The Heisman Trust (the “board” of the Heisman Trophy) and Reggie Bush were both being badgered to reach a decision on what to do with the trophy. He faced a one way road; he was likely going to lose the trophy, so to take the pressure off of himself he made a solid public relations move and voluntarily gave the prestigious trophy back to the Heisman Trust.
But underneath all of the legal documentation we see teams proudly playing a sport they enjoy. The Heisman Trophy is awarded for the most outstanding player in the sport that year, an honor judged by how well they played on the football field, not how they got there.
The sports world witnessed a player like we’ve never seen before. Bush was earning money from the time he was in high school. Some people work retail, Reggie Bush was preparing to make millions in the NFL. Any business, franchise, enterprise or career needs some kind of financial assistance along the way, Bush was taking out his loans early and is cashing them in now. That should not affect what happens on the field.
It’s not his fault his talent is so great,.LeBron James did pretty well for his high school basketball team and he was able to sign with a professional sports team after he graduated. Let’s just say all his benefits were early birthday gifts and call it a day. His rewards were for a successful early football career, he should reap the benefits rather than deny himself the luxury he earned himself.
By getting into the University of Southern California he propelled himself to a million dollar professional career, a Super Bowl title, commercial success and a little time with celebrity Kim Kardashian. He’s somewhat of a celebrity himself. He and his fellow Trojans earned a national championship in 2005, but they are now forced to relinquish that title, some wins, scholarships and more because of an ineligible player they had on the team. Every other player on the team during that time has to give up the thrill of winning the title, some “officially” lost their entire college career because of this rule. Not only is Reggie Bush losing something he earned, his football program is in a monstrous hole that may take years to get out of. Even the players on the teams have lost something to gloat about to their kids or to the girl at the bar.
In all technicality, yes, Reggie Bush did have to give up the trophy. Rules are rules, and no one can get around them. Bush is the perfect example to stop future violators, and if the NCAA didn’t do anything they would have been not only scrutinized, but every athlete and agent would use this scenario as an excuse to get around it. But somewhere within the legal ramifications, it must be alright to punish at least the player and not the entire team. Fining the school would have been a much more reasonable idea too. I’m sure there are some extra pennies from tuitions lying around.
No comments:
Post a Comment