He still dominated the 2005 season and no history book or line of text can take that away from him

SCOTT JACOBS

Reggie Bush gave back his 2005 Heisman on Tuesday.  On Wednesday the Heisman Trust made the decision to forever leave the 2005 award vacated.  No Vince Young.  No re-vote on something that took place nearly half a decade ago.  No East Coast-West Coast bias. None of that.

But to sports fans, the only meaningful part of this story is that Bush becomes the first to give back his trophy.  Besides that it’s not as if that much changes.  Sure, USC’s trophy case loses a few big-time awards and one of it’s most exhilarating talents is gone from it’s ‘updated’ record books.  Bush was ruled ineligible and for that he should have lost his Heisman, but let’s not kid ourselves here: at the end of the day everyone who remembers that 2005 season knows it was completely and utterly dominated by Reggie Bush.  No ifs, ands, or Heismans about it.  And because of that, it’s not like he has been completely removed from our memory banks like he has been from the history books.

I won’t soon forget his incredible speed, or the incredible across the field run he pulled off against Fresno State on a 10:30 Eastern time FSN start, where he stopped on a dime and reversed field like it was nothing.  He was the most electric player in the game that year and I dare ask if there’s been anyone that good on the college level since:

So maybe 30 years from now when people read the history of Heisman winners they’ll see that giant gap where it once read Bush’s name.  Maybe in 100 years from now, assuming that football is even still relevant Bush may have been forgotten.  But here’s the irony in all of this: for a college career compiled of bad decisions, Bush’s greatness and his stupidity stands to last longer than any of the previous Heisman winners who ‘allegedly’ played the game right and didn’t take money from nobody.  Bush will be that curious case, the man who was so great, yet had to vacate his place amongst the college greats.  His story is more interesting than most.  And please, it’s not like their won’t be a zillion books written about this — there already have.

So yeah, it’s rotten, embarrassing, and USC’s hit could set them back years if not a decade or two.  But life will go on, USC will eventually recover, and years from now everyone will want to know what happened in 2005.

Bush’s story went from ordinary to extraordinary.  And taking the Heisman away from him will only make him a more curious case years from now.

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