Reaction to Reggie Bush forfeiting his 2005 Heisman Trophy:
“It doesn’t matter if he gives it back. Everyone still knows Reggie Bush was the best player that year. Look at the runs. He was clearly the best player. O.J. Simpson got accused of a murder and they didn’t take his back. That was a far greater allegation, and they didn’t find O.J. guilty on that.” – Johnny Rodgers, 1972 Heisman winner from Nebraska.
“I don’t think he should’ve gave his Heisman away. They should’ve stripped it away because he worked hard for that.” I think it’s a shame that it’s come to this for Reggie. Unfortunately they found out a lot of this information after the fact after he had so much success on the field, and you’re looking at five years later he’s giving the trophy back. My only concern now is what happens if they find out that in the 1950s a booster bought a player a cup of coffee?” – Eddie George, 1995 Heisman winner from Ohio State.
“The Heisman Trophy Trust will issue a statement in due course. Until that time we will have no further comment.” – William J. Dockery, president of the Heisman Trophy Trust.
“If that’s what he feels like he needed to do, only he can make that judgment. … I thought he would try to hold onto it, since he’d left the university, but maybe he’s doing the right thing giving it up, given the circumstances. They may try to offer it to the guy who came in second, but who knows? Me, personally, it doesn’t matter. People across the country voted for him (Bush). What are they going to do, re-vote now?” – Billy Sims, 1978 Heisman winner from Oklahoma.
“I think it’s a sad day, that’s the way I feel about it. Having to actually be the first time in the history of the award that someone has given it back… I don’t know if he actually had to. Maybe this is on his terms.” Maybe this will speak volumes to those schools and players who are potentially Heisman candidates. They’re going to really watch what they do. They aren’t going to let strange agents into their lives that they don’t know and hopefully this will speak volumes for universities and set new rules and standards for NCAA in conjunction with agents,” – Eric Crouch, 2001 Heisman winner from Nebraska.
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“It’s a sad day for the Heisman fraternity. It’s like one of our members had to turn in his resignation. Reggie was one of the most exciting, electric and dynamic members we had, at least in recent years, in our fraternity. He’s been demonized over there and it seems like there was no alternative. If anything truly went down, there were some other people complicit and they got off Scott-free.” – Desmond Howard, 1991 Heisman winner from Michigan.