Bush joins college hall of fame with 17 other players
Reggie Bush doesn’t have his Heisman Trophy back yet, but he has secured another prestigious college football honor.
Bush, whose Heisman win in 2005 was vacated because of NCAA violations, was among the 18 players named to the College Football Hall of Fame class announced Monday ahead of the College Football Playoff national title game at SoFi Stadium on Monday night.
Bush played on two national championship teams with USC in 2003 and ’04 and led the Trojans to another title game in 2005, during which he won the Heisman with a spectacular season. He ran for 1,740 yards, averaged 8.7 yards per carry and scored 19 touchdowns.
The New Orleans Saints selected him with the second overall pick in the NFL draft after a college career in which he ran for 3,169 yards in three seasons, averaging 7.3 yards per carry, and scored 42 touchdowns.
The NCAA later investigated USC and Bush, determining the running back and his family received impermissible benefits from a marketing agent while playing for the Trojans.
The NCAA hit USC with severe sanctions in 2010 and later the Heisman Trust vacated Bush’s Heisman victory and asked him to return his trophy.
Among the NCAA penalties, USC disassociated with Bush for 10 years. That sanction lifted in 2020 and Bush was welcomed back by the school.
The Heisman win remains vacated, with the trust saying it would return the award only if the NCAA reconsiders the penalties against Bush. The NCAA has said it will not review old infractions cases, but there have been calls do to so in light of today’s less-restrictive rules around athlete compensation for endorsement deals. Bush has posted on social media the Heisman decision was unfair and he soon will reveal more details to support his case.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow headlines the rest of the player inductees:
Dwight Freeney of Syracuse, Luke Kuechly of Boston College, LaMichael James of Oregon, Michael Bishop of Kansas State,
Eric Berry of Tennessee,
Robert Gallery of Iowa,
Derrick Johnson of Texas,
Bill Kollar of Montana State, Jeremy Maclin of Missouri, Terrance Mathis of New Mexico, Br yant McKinnie of Miami, Corey Moore of Virginia Tech,
Michael Stonebreaker of
Notre Dame, Troy Vincent of Wisconsin, Brian Westbrook of Villanova and DeAngelo Williams of Memphis.
Coaches Monte Carr of Shepherd, Roy Kramer of Central Michigan, Mark Richt of Georgia and Miami and Paul Johnson of Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech also are slated to be inducted in December.
Fired-up Bulldogs
Georgia native and lifelong Bulldogs fan Corey Canion had never attended a college football game and figured the College Football Playoff national championship game might make for a good first impression.
“I live this way toward L.A., so I figured why not,” the Riverside County resident said before kickoff Monday at SoFi Stadium. “It’s definitely a good experience ... I’ve enjoyed it.”
Canion was excited at the sight of so many Bulldogs fans in attendance and to have a piece of home come to him.
“Oh man, it’s lovely, man, just to see my hometown people come out to support the team, it’s awesome. They traveled over 2,000 miles from Georgia to California, what else could you ask for,” he said. “It’s a good environment to be a part of, you know? It’s just that one reason why I love college ball so much — the fan base.”
Surprise showers
SoFi Stadium has a roof, but it didn’t stop rain in the Inglewood area from crashing Georgia’s romp.
The venue has open air sections along the concourse that typically facilitate cool breezes flowing through the state-of-the-art venue. But a combination of rain and wind whipped water onto the concourse and some seating areas during the game. In the fourth quarter, some mist reached the football field.
Dufresne honored
Former Times sportswriter Chris Dufresne was posthumously named the Football Writers Assn. of America 2022 Bert McGrane Award recipient. It is the organization’s highest honor, presented annually during the national championship weekend. Dufresne, the FWAA’s president in 2013, died in May 2020 at 62. He worked on loading docks and helped deliver The Times before spending 35 years as an award-winning sportswriter at the newspaper.