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Following USC's long-awaited and much-celebrated announcement that Reggie Bush's 10-year NCAA-mandated disassociation from the program is officially, finally over and the Trojans legend is free to return to campus and be a part of the program again, Bush joined The Herd with Colin Cowherd on FS1 to share his thoughts.
"I was excited. This has been something I've dreamed of for a long time, to be able to come home and spend time with some of the younger players, some of the coaches, some of the faculty, the staff members there. There's still people there that I've developed strong, close relationships with, that I've known for a very long time, all the way down to the equipment people," Bush said on the show. "That's a testament of what we built in our time there while I was at USC. We built relationships that extended well beyond the football field, and most and if not all the people I've spent time with there, especially my teammates, I consider family. And to this day, that relationship goes far beyond the football field.
"So for me, we're excited to be back. I can't wait to get to the university and get to know some of the young players there and start to help initiate change and just help bring back greatness to USC."
Bush certainly brought the Trojans to greatness during his time starring on one of college football's most exciting teams from 2003-05.
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Bush rushed for 3,169 yards and 25 touchdowns in his USC career, caught 95 passes for 1,301 yards and 13 scores, and returned 67 kickoffs for 1,523 yards with a TD and 44 punts for 559 yards with 3 TDs -- during which time the program claimed two national championships -- before being selected No. 2 overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. He had 11 100-yard rushing games in his career and averaged an NCAA record 7.3 career rushing yards per carry.
During the 2005 season that earned him the Heisman Trophy (at the time), Bush rushed for 1,740 yards (8.7 yards per carry) and 16 touchdowns, caught 37 passes for 478 yards and 2 TDs and added a punt return TD.
Cowherd asked Bush if he thought he would be returned his Heisman Trophy -- which he gave back after the NCAA investigation that determined Bush and his family had received impermissible benefits through a sports agency (not from USC), including cash, travel expenses, and a home in the San Diego area where Bush's parents lived rent-free for more than a year.
He made it clear that's his hope, but Bush said what he hoped for most is that today's college athletes are able to cash in on their marketability and value in a way that he wasn't able as the NCAA moves closer and closer to implementing Name, Image and Likeness policy changes.
"To say that I don't want it back would be a lie, so I do want to be completely honest about that -- 100 percent I want my Heisman Trophy back," Bush said. "But also at the same time I'm more focused on the kids now because what happened to me is in the past, and we're not going to change what happened and we're not going to be able to change everything that happened in that situation, but what we can do is learn from it. That's why I'm so happy, I'm so happy, that kids will now be able to make money off their Name, Image and Likeness, because that is what's fair and that is what they deserve. In no other form of work can a company say, 'Hey, you come and work for us, but you cannot make money off your name, image and likeness, but we can.' ...
"As we now move to the Name, Image and Likeness and the legislation is being written on that, who's looking out for the players in this situation, because I have to believe the NCAA is going to protect their investments -- which they should, I'm not saying that they shouldn't do that. But at the same time I don't want to see these players be [hamstrung] once again because maybe the new rules that come out doesn't fully support them in a way that it should be. That's my focus right now. The Heisman Trophy, everything that happened with USC, that's in the past. Would I love to have it back? Hell yes. But at the same time, is it my focus right now? Absolutely not."
Bush was then asked if he felt taken advantage of as a college athlete -- for that matter, one of the most popular and marketable college athletes at that time.
He said he didn't realize it in the moment, but as he moved on to the NFL and looked back with perspective he realized what had been denied to him by the NCAA rules.
"Once you leave and then you start to really understand what college football is all about, then that's where you go back and say, OK, there was a big, significant injustice that happened here. Not just to me, but to everybody that came through the college system, because again as I said before, in no way, shape or form is it OK to tell a young kid when he's in his prime, 'You can't make money off your name, image and likeness, but this big-time corporation can,'" Bush said.
The NCAA sanctions that followed his matter -- including a two-year postseason ban for USC, 14 vacated victories (including the 2004 BCS national championship, though the Trojans are still recognized as the AP national champions from that year), the loss of 30 scholarships, Bush returning the Heisman Trophy and the disassociation that would last 10 years -- stayed with him even as he progressed in his NFL career, he said.
"It's tough. It's very tough. I went through a lot as a person. I went through a lot as a man. A lot of my confidence as a man was shot down, and I had some struggles throughout my career in the NFL because of the things that happened at USC," he said. "A lot of the things I experienced that I went through that I had to deal with from backlash from everything that happened, it was tough. It was not easy. But this is the thing for me -- I couldn't stay in that spot because if I stayed in that spot I never would have had the opportunity to really enjoy my time in New Orleans.
"And that's the thing, everything happened so quick for me -- I got drafted, went to New Orleans, an organization that needed change in a city that had just been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, so I quickly had to get to work. But this always lingered in the back of my head, it always lingered in the back of my mind, it's the thing that kept me up late at night almost every night, it's the thing that kind of haunted me too as well."
It remains to be seen what involvement Bush will have with USC moving forward, but with the way the Trojans officially celebrated the announcement Wednesday on social media, it would seem that it will be up to Bush to be as involved as he wants to be with the program.
In speaking on The Herd, Bush recalled what it meant to him as a player to see former USC greats like Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott on the sidelines and to feel that support. He expressed interest in being that presence for the current players.
"That's one of the reasons I can't wait to go back because I know what it means to be able to look to that sideline and see some of the OGs, some of the older guys who did it before you," Bush said. "Marcus Allen is from my area. We grew up in the same area. The high school he went to, I grew up maybe five miles down the street from. So I looked up to Marcus Allen for a long time and I still do because of the person he is, the man he is, and guys like Ronnie Lott who have been in my corner from Day 1. These are guys who eat, sleep and breathe Cardinal and Gold, eat, sleep and breathe USC. Those are the kind of guys, I can't wait to get around those guys and again help bring back some of the greatness back to USC."
