Johnny Manziel Wants Reggie Bush To Get His Heisman Back After Fans Point Out Double Standard

For years, fans have begged the NCAA to return the Heisman Trophy to Reggie Bush. And after the release of Netflix's new Johnny Manziel documentary, the outcry is even louder.

In Untold: Johnny Football, the former Texas A&M phenom admits to taking thousands of dollars in exchange for autographs during his college career. That's something that, at the time, the NCAA strictly prohibited.

Bush, of course, was infamously stripped of his Heisman in 2010 after an investigation revealed his family received gifts in violation of NCAA policies. But while Bush lost his Heisman, Manziel still has his.

And fans on social media were quick to point that out.

(Credit: Getty Images)

"First thing I said hearing this on Netflix was 'So how tf does Johnny D-Bag get to keep his Heisman!?'" one person posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"The NCAA doesn't have the stones to take the negative press on it a second time and are too big of cowards to undo the injustice they did to Reggie," another person said.

"NCAA hated our dynasty and don't like admitting to their mistakes," a disgruntled USC fan wrote.

The NCAA came down hard on the entire USC program after the Reggie Bush scandal. In addition to taking his Heisman, the governing body vacated Southern Cal's 2004 National Championship and all of their wins in 2005.

So why treat Manziel's situation any differently? Well, he's here to clear the air on that.

"The only difference between my story and Reggie's is that my 'illegal activities' did not start until after my Heisman season," Manziel posted on X.

Johnny Manziel Calls Reggie Bush Punishment 'Complete Bullsh-t'

Manziel says he, too, believes the USC legend deserves his Heisman Trophy back.

"There is nothing I want to see more than for Reggie to get his Heisman back," Manziel wrote. "I think what the NCAA did in that situation is complete bullsh-t. He is one of the best college football players in history and deserves to be on that stage with us every year."

Bush was, in fact, one of the most electrifying college football players in history.

During his Heisman season, he rushed for 1,740 yards on 8.7 yards per carry with 16 touchdowns. He also caught 37 passes for 478 yards and two scores.

The performance earned him 784 of the 892 possible first-place Heisman votes in 2005 — beating out teammate Matt Leinart and Texas quarterback Vince Young.

(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Unfortunately for Bush, though, that was the pre-NIL era, and the NCAA didn't take kindly to him for profiting off his name and likeness.

The difference between the two is that the governing body has no proof — other than Johnny Football's word, of course — that Manziel actually collected payments for autographs. But it did have plenty of damning evidence against Bush.

So fans (and Manziel) can rally behind the running back all they want. But the NCAA is unlikely to cave anytime soon.