Reggie Bush spoke to the New Orleans media after Saints practice today and further addressed his forfeiting the Heisman Trophy earlier this week.
(Audio of Bush comments below)
When asked if relinquishing the award was an “admission of guilt”, Bush said:
“It’s definitely not an admission of guilt. It’s me showing my respect to the Heisman Trophy and to the people who come before me and the people who come after me. You’re going to keep hearing the same thing because that’s what it is. It’s not an admission of guilt it’s me feeling like this is the best thing for me and the Heisman Trust right now.”
Bush added that his mother and stepfather, Denise and LaMar Griffin, did not want him to return the Heisman Trophy.
“It’s the motherly and fatherly nature of parents. But they understand at the end of the day. That I’m a grown man and I got to make my own decisions and this is a learning experience and for anybody else coming after me.”
It was Bush’s mother and stepfather who, by the use of a San Diego home provided by sports marketing agent Michael Michaels, rendered Bush retroactively ineligible for the 2005 USC football season.
The Heisman Trophy Trust’s bylaws state that Bush was not entitled to the award if he was not in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules in 2005, the year he won the award.
So by utilizing the house provided by sports marketing agent Michaels, Bush’s parents effectively stripped Bush of the Heisman Trophy themselves.
12:25 am on September 17th, 2010
We’re stuck with Lame Kiffin because this ass was guilty. We’ve always cheated. It’s why we’ve won but this was hard to ignore. Kinda like my monkey face and tiny bank account.
2:20 am on September 17th, 2010
Reggie is delusional.
2:43 am on September 17th, 2010
Isn’t there a tape of the stepfather talking to Lloyd Lake?
2:50 am on September 17th, 2010
It’d be funny if he returned a cheap knockoff and claimed it was the real one.
6:15 am on September 17th, 2010
So is anyone else getting tired of the daily posts about how USC didn’t do anything THAT bad, and the constant comparisons to any school that does anything remotely close to USC on the cheating scale? Everyday we have to read about how USC is being misrepresented and being unfairly treated? Or how Reggie is at the business end of a witch hunt, and is being wrongly persecuted?
I mean I LOVE this blog… but come on, can we just accept that wrongs were made and move on?
8:24 am on September 17th, 2010
Hey Reggie, your parents are scumbags. If they had been better parents they would have advised you against dealing with an agent and certainly wouldnt have lived high on the hog with the agents money.
9:19 am on September 17th, 2010
Great College player. Mediocre NFL player.
9:37 am on September 17th, 2010
Mediocre person too. Disgraced Trojans
10:05 am on September 17th, 2010
Whatever he gave it back…lets move on
hey, do you think reggies biological father wears a saints jersey?
this should be a lesson for guys that bail out on their kids, the kid may actually make something of themselves, and you have to watch the stepdad get a house and tickets to saints games, and your watching your son on T.V afraid to tell people thats your kid
11:12 am on September 17th, 2010
Of course, Bush ripped the NCAA. Same tired refrain of the guilty claiming to be a victim. Bush indicates players get nothing while the schools reap millions. Last time I checked, USC tuition, room, board and fees comes to $50,642 per year. That’s $202,568 worth of college education for playing football and being anointed BMOC for 4 years. Hey Reggie, ask any of your classmates who couldn’t catch the swing pass out of the backfield is a free ride is “nothing”. They may disagree.
1:59 pm on September 17th, 2010
I have an easy solution for this problem going forward - lie detector tests. Schools should lie detector all their players before the start of the season. One question: “have you knowingly broken any NCAA rules?” If they fail, no play. I know Liberals will go wild, but the schools lose millions and deserve to be able to defend themselves. They already test them for ‘roids - not much difference.
2:15 pm on September 17th, 2010
The fix is to punish the player and the agent, as well as the school, which requires NFL cooperation.
If an agent causes a NCAA player to become ineligible, the agent gets permanently barred from being allowed to represent/advise NFL players in any capacity, and the player should be barred from playing in the NFL for 2-3 years.
If the school knew of the violations, THEN you punish them under existing guidelines.
As the rules are enforced today, players (and sometimes the school) that had nothing to do with the violations end up paying the price.
2:36 pm on September 18th, 2010
I blame reggies parents a lot in this one. As a parent you are supposed to set an example and tell your kids right from wrong. They were on the take more than reggie was.
1:34 am on September 19th, 2010
Amazing the ignorance here again…Lets see,.. Reggie Bush’s parents accept gifts from a felon. Who NEVER WAS A SPORTS AGENT FOR ANYONE ! A 8 time felon who had to leave jail to testify. If Reggies parents want to provide there son a car to borrow etc etc …then so be it.
Ever see any proof that Reggie bought a automobile ? Ever see any proof that Reggie violated anything ? No !
if you read the NCAA report they attack a football coach and attempt to frame Mcnair as showing USC lacked institutional control and allowed Reggie to be recruited and paid.
Did they prove it ? No, but that is what USC was sanctioned for. NOT REGGIE BUSH.
For the life of me people, stop being brainwashed by the ignorant press and read the dam reports from the NCAA and USC. Not a bunch of brainwashed yahoos from Yahoo and other stupid sportswriters.