Texas great Ricky Williams spells out what it will take to get Reggie Bush his Heisman
Now that his playing career is long over, former Texas A&M Johnny Manziel is not afraid to say whatever combination of words about any topic.
He is making the rounds on every platform, spitting out the type of honesty that typically comes from a person in their 80s. The Heisman Trophy winning Aggie QB took to X (formerly known as Twitter) recently to support the case of former USC running back Reggie Bush, whose Heisman was stripped by the foundation years ago.
“You can back a Brinks truck up to my house and I still will not attend the ceremony or do ANYTHING involved until Reggie’s trophy is back where it rightfully belongs,” Manziel wrote.
In 2005, Bush won the Heisman Trophy. In 2010, the NCAA penalized USC’s football program for an array of infractions, including what were then “impermissible benefits” given to Bush. Benefits that now would not be penalized.
Bush returned his Heisman Trophy, and it has not been reinstated despite growing support to do.
According to former University of Texas running back Ricky Williams, the man who started the support for this wasn’t Manziel so much as it was former Notre Dame receiver Tim Brown, who won the award in 1987.
Williams won the Heisman Trophy at Texas in 1998. This week I asked where he stands on the Reggie Bush issue as it relates to the Heisman award.
“From what I can tell anyone younger than 55 or 60, maybe even the (Heisman Trophy winners) who are older, they are all in with Johnny,” Williams said in an interview via Zoom. “Tim Brown sent an email out a couple months ago trying to get people on board with Johnny, and probably sparked Johnny’s sentiments trying to get people on board getting Reggie back into the fraternity.
“To the extent that Tim said that in order to do it we would all have to boycott the Heisman Trophy ceremony. I’m not sure enough guys are that in, but we will see.”
All past Heisman Trophy winners are invited to attend the annual event in New York City. Most who can make what amounts to a free trip to Manhattan go. In the past few years there has been growing sentiment that Bush should have his award returned, and that he be invited to re-join the group.
It may not require a list of previous Heisman winners boycotting the event to have Bush’s trophy returned, but it would help.
Because of the sanctions, Bush was banned from the NCAA record books ... whatever that means.
According to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, this week, “The NCAA rejected Reggie Bush’s request to reconsider penalties levied against the USC football program -- as part of Bush’s effort to regain his Heisman Trophy -- because he was ‘not an involved individual’ in the landmark case.
This feels like the NCAA flexing one of its last remaining atrophying muscles to justify its presence more than doing anything of value.
Considering the changes that have occurred in NCAA athletics, where players are openly paid and can accept benefits previously considered taboo, it’s a tad heavy handed to continue to punish a person for doing something that is now widely accepted.
And it’s not as if Bush bet on games, shaved points, or shot anyone. He was doing what a lot of players, many of them Heisman winners, did for years; USC got busted.
During his time at USC, it was reported that Bush accepted money, travel benefits and was provided a San Diego-area home rent free. Today, none of this would register.
Manziel is obviously not the only Heisman winner who thinks this all needs to be done.
“This is about doing what’s right for everyone involved. Reggie’s play on the field inspired me to be the football player that I am,” Manziel wrote on X. “To the Heisman trust I hope you understand my positioning. You know that I have nothing but love and respect for that trophy and the people associated with it. It changed my life for the better, forever, and I will be eternally grateful for that until my last day on this earth.The bond and the brotherhood means more than anything else. That’s truly what makes the fraternity so special.”
A fraternity that most of the members, according to Ricky Williams, needs to include Reggie Bush.
