Reggie Bush gets his Heisman back but won't drop defamation suit against the NCAA
Story on ESPN.
The NCAA is a complete joke and I hope Harbaugh sues the fuck out of them too if they try any shit like this.
I hope he wins too. The NCAA had all the time in the world to set guard rails and payment structures and now are facing irrelevance.
April 26th, 2024 at 10:32 AM ^
Agreed. The NCAA is a complete joke. It either needs an overhaul or be gone. Plus, with this news, Michigan should hang the banners up from the Fab Five Era.
I guess he didn't "cheat" but USC sure did to field that team.
It's waaay past time to hang the Fab Five banners back up.
I don't have any love for the NCAA, but I don't understand the defamation suit. Granted, I don't know shit about fuck about the law, and I don't know anything about the case, but Bush says:
"It was more of being labeled a cheater," Bush said. "The trophy ... being taken away from me [was painful], but being labeled a cheater was far worse, because I've never cheated, and there's no proof of that, that I've cheated."
Did the NCAA actually label him a cheater? Did they make any statements to that effect? Or did they just take away his trophy because he violated what was (back then) an NCAA rule?
They also vacated wins and his personal achievement records.
We know they like to break their own rules when it suits them. "It's not about the cheeseburgers"
While wrong, none of that is defamation.
It’s not a strong defamation suit at all, I think it’s more about Reggie trying to prove a point. Also, I think he voluntarily gave up the Heisman, not that it makes a big difference
April 25th, 2024 at 10:36 PM ^
I am all for anybody and everybody suing the NCAA until they break. Go Reggie go! Even if he loses, keep the lawsuits coming. The NCAA is happy to put the screws to folks who don’t fight back. They can only bale so much water out of the sinking ship so keep punching new holes.
Good. He shouldn't. I don't have much of an opinion on Reggie Bush one way or the other, but I hope his lawyer goes for the jugular and gets every penny he can put of that corrupt, hypocritical clown show.
I hope everyone who was a victim of the NCAA's illegal scheme (including the Fab Five) gets the justice they deserve and that this hastens the NCAA's demise.
Illegal?
The Alston decision (which was unanimous) basically held the NCAA's entire model of "amateurism" to be a blatant violation of federal antitrust law.
April 26th, 2024 at 10:35 AM ^
That's not at all accurate, but don't let mere facts stop you. Rage on, brother!
fuck the NCAA. they rarely look out for the best interests of programs, the sport and athletes. all they care about is nitpicking their own dumb rules
April 25th, 2024 at 10:52 PM ^
Unpopular opinion. He shouldn't get it.
He broke the rules at the time. USC gained an unfair advantage over the teams who weren't doing this. Also, Reggie got benefits other guys weren't entitled to, simply because their schools followed the rules.
April 26th, 2024 at 12:53 AM ^
The rules have since been determined to be exploitative and illegal. Through these exploitative and illegal rules, the NCAA, its member schools, its corporate sponsors, conferences, TV networks, and others hoarded revenue that should have been shared with the players. Reggie Bush, by having his accomplishments stricken from the record for his lack of compliance with these illegal rules, was a victim of the NCAA's exploitative, illegal scheme. Therefore, now that the exploitative and illegal scheme has finally been abolished, he should have his accomplishments restored.
April 26th, 2024 at 11:59 AM ^
I'm as liberal as anyone on this sub, but I just can't get my head around that.
Based on your line of thinking, we owe everyone who played prior to 2021 a Heisman trophy and a boatload of money. And maybe they should get a boatload of money, but he still had an advantage most others didn't.
April 26th, 2024 at 10:41 AM ^
I don't understand how Bush insists he didn't cheat. Taking improper benefits was against the rules, i.e. cheating. What am I missing? This isn't a defense of the rules; it's reasonable to argue that they were stupid then and should never have been the rules. But they were the rules, and he broke them, right?
April 26th, 2024 at 12:01 PM ^
This is how I see it.
Even if the rules were poor, he gained an unfair advantage over those who followed them
April 26th, 2024 at 12:11 PM ^
Regardless of your opinion of the NCAA this is nonsensical. What Bush did was in fact improper benefits and broke the rules at the time, that is cut and dry.