Los Angeles Billboards Implore NCAA To Return Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy, But They Shouldn't Acquiesce

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Reggie Bush won the 2005 Heisman Trophy. He posted one of the most ridiculous college football seasons of all-time and regularly wowed USC fans with incredible plays. However, the NCAA took that trophy away in 2010 after an investigation into impermissible benefits.

The NCAA came down hard on the entire USC program. The governing body vacated USC's 2004 National Championship and all of their wins in 2005.

Of course, in today's college sports landscape, NIL is just part of the process. So, Bush's punishment no longer fits the "crime."

Reggie Bush, USC tailback, holds the Heisman Trophy during the 2005 Heisman Trophy presentation.

Reggie Bush, USC tailback, holds the Heisman Trophy during the 2005 Heisman Trophy presentation. (Photo by Michael Cohen/WireImage)

Because of that, Los Angeles citizens are trying to get the NCAA to return Bush's Heisman Trophy.

Few things here. First, it's funny that the fans are fighting more for Reggie Bush's individual award than USC's 2004 National Championship. You'd think fans would be more aggressively trying to return the team's title.

Kinda makes you wonder about who's behind it in the first place...

But even still, I'm not sure I agree with returning the Heisman. Yes, Bush's actions were against the rules then, but not now. However, he knew they were against the rules then and did them anyways.

I'm not a fan of when people apply today's standards to people of the past. Like when the Washington Post called George Washington racist.

At the time, Washington simply behaved in the manner of a person born in the 1700s. Treating him like he should have know the rules would be completely different in 2023 is absurd.

But this needs to go both ways. Reggie Bush knowingly broke the rules in 2004 and 2005. We don't get to go back and apply today's standards to those actions.

That's a dangerous precedent to set and one that yields many more negative results than positive ones.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.