Reggie Bush is in the news again, and, as usual, I’m not enjoying it.
Even if you’re a freshman, you still have to remember Bush. USC running back, Heisman winner, darling of the national media? Did somersaults into our end zone on more than one occasion? Now plays for the New Orleans Saints, does commercials for Pepsi, Subway, Visa and Adidas, and has appeared in a Ciara music video?
Yeah, that Reggie Bush.
Well, it’s playoff time and even though his Saints are at home and Bush’s season ended in early December because of a knee injury, he’s still making headlines.
See, months of seemingly directionless speculation and allegation that Bush and his family took money from sports agents hoping to represent him while he was still at USC are coming to a head.
A book released this week titled “Tarnished Heisman” contains transcripts of conversations between Lloyd Lake, one of those agents, and Bush and his stepfather, LaMar Griffin. Those conversations apparently describe an agreement that existed during the latter portions of Bush’s time at USC, when Lake allegedly supplied Bush with money and his partner, Michael Michaels, gave money to Griffin.
The goal of this supposed transaction, which the book claims totalled close to $300,000, was to win over Bush as a client after he turned pro.
When Bush found other representation, Michaels and Lake sued. Michaels has since settled with Bush out of court, but Lake’s suit is still pending.
The NCAA has apparently been attempting to investigate these allegations for some time, but its jurisdiction is confined to its member universities.
Since Lake and Michaels had nothing to do with USC, the NCAA has no way to make them talk.
But the NCAA has since spoken with Don Yaeger, one of the authors of “Tarnished Heisman,” and chances are they’ll step up their investigation now.
If the NCAA concludes Bush took money, then his amateur status and NCAA eligibility would have been compromised. That means USC would retroactively forfeit every game they won while Bush was being paid to play. And that means no more 2004 National Championship. And no more Heisman for Bush.
As a UCLA student, this possibility should make me happy, right? If one of the first rules of fandom is to revel in the misfortune of your rivals, then I should be doing somersaults of my own. I mean, if Bush’s entire collegiate career were wiped out, then that 13-9 victory over USC in 2006 would have been our fourth in a row over the Trojans. Ring on, Victory Bell.
But here’s the thing: As much as I hate Bush’s past, his future is too important to be washed away. Because Bush doesn’t play in South Central anymore.
He plays in New Orleans.
Whether or not he’s earned it, Bush has become one of the biggest stars in the NFL. He makes the most advertising money of any player not named Peyton Manning, and he’s become one of the unofficial symbols of hope and regrowth in a part of the country that badly needs both.
Maybe Bourbon Street and the French Quarter are doing business as usual, but New Orleans as a whole is still largely mired in the mud along a seemingly endless road to recovery from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
So while a part of me might smile if Bush were disgraced and USC suddenly picked up a 24-game losing streak in 2004 and 2005, I can’t really feel good about it because it could hurt Bush’s marketability.
I don’t care if he loses his Heisman or not, but if he loses some of those marketing deals, it’s one more blow to the Gulf Coast.
They need Bush down there. They need the money he brings in, the attention he gets and the symbol he’s become. The people of New Orleans have lost a lot; they don’t need to lose one of their few silver linings.
And look, I haven’t read “Tarnished Heisman” yet and I don’t know how active Bush is in the community.
It could be that Lake’s claims don’t hold water or that Bush lives in a gated mansion somewhere and only ventures out for practice and games.
But either way, regardless of what he’s done up to this point, now might be a good time for him to start giving back as much he can to his new community. Because his image ““ and his Heisman, if he keeps it ““ might need some cleaning up soon.
After all, if Bush is going to make money off his stardom, he might as well earn it.
E-mail Lampros at nlampros@media.ucla.edu.