Viewpoint by Marley Malenfant/se news editor
The Heisman Trophy isn’t a moral award. It’s an award based on the performance of an entire season of college football.
But don’t tell that to the NCAA and the Heisman Trophy Trust.
According to Yahoo investigative reporter Charles Robinson, the trust will strip Reggie Bush of his 2005 Heisman Trophy.
Also, the University of Southern California will return its copy of Bush’s Heisman at the end of the month and will erase all records of the former USC Trojan. Bush will be the first athlete in the 75-year history of the Heisman to be stripped of the award.
Bush didn’t use illegal performance enhancing drugs. Instead, He unfortunately did what some student-athletes would do — accept under-the-table money and other illegal benefits while playing football for USC.
For that, the NCAA considered Bush ineligible during the 2005 season when he won the award.
O.J. Simpson still has his Heisman, and he’s serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery. Billy Cannon served two years in prison for a counterfeiting operation. But neither was asked to give back his award.
The Heisman Trust won’t accomplish anything by stripping Bush’s award. The NCAA already took away 20 football scholarships and two years of bowl games from USC.
The Heisman now loses integrity with Bush losing the award. Future winners could consider the award a joke.
The NCAA needs to create a system to aid athletes financially to reduce the inappropriate benefits that some may get.
After winning a Super Bowl, dating Kim Kardashian and earning millions, Bush’s Heisman Trophy would just collect dust anyway.
