A player is recruited by a major college football program.  That player is given thousands of dollars - in persuasion money - for the university.  The program cements its status as a national powerhouse during that player’s tenure.  The program wins the national championship and that player wins the Heisman.

As the player is preparing to leave college for the professional ranks, the accusations begin to drop regarding the money that the player accepted from non-family members.  The $300,000 in money he took from agent types.  The player went on to become one of the more popular professional players in his sport’s league.  But the college university that the player left remained in a cloud of suspicious surrounding the money it gave the player.

The championship that the team won during the player’s tenure was stripped from the university.  And now, there’s discussion regarding whether the player should have his Heisman taken away.

In case you hadn’t heard by now, we’re talking about USC and Reggie Bush.  And, at first glance, one has to think “how do you think you can accept 300K and not get caught?”  And I’d concur, because I would be too scared to even think about accepting that money.  One would have to be playing under the constant strain of possibly being caught and kicked out of college football.  Could you imagine performing under that type of stress?  Well, not only did Bush imagine it, but he dealt with it and excelled.  He lived the life that every little boy who ever carried a football would have dreamed of.  He made plays that could be rivaled only by a discrete number of other athletes.  Bush’s wrongdoing withstanding, we all waited to see his dazzling plays.

But the illegal part of the whole situation was precipitated by USC.  Of course, Southern Cal is being hit hard by the whole scandal, which by the way, also included extra gifts given to current Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo.  And well, they should be.  It’s clear that with more than one player being given an inordinate amount of compensation, there was an inappropriate trend developing.  Star athletes need star attention.  Many reports suggested that USC officials turned their heads to any suspicious activity.  And if a university is not checking the credentials of agents and friends who are sitting at games (even on the sidelines…how can you be more obvious than that?) with these athletes, the price can be tremendous. 

Just ask USC.  And whether or not current head coach Lane Kiffin wants to admit it, the sanctions imposed against Southern Cal will affect the athletic recruitment for that university in a big, big way.

Although he's extremely popular, Bush hasn't consistently played at a superstar level in the NFL.

I’m on the fence about Bush’s Heisman, though.  Sure he was ineligible based on the NCAA rules, and for many that should be the end of the story.  NCAA rules very boldly state:

“…a prospective student-athlete may not receive educational expenses from his or her outside sports team or organization when those funds are based in any degree on the recipient’s athletics ability. In addition, a prospect may not receive educational expenses from any individual whose relationship with the prospect developed as a result of the prospect’s athletics participation or reputation.”

That passage definitely describe Bush.

But you just get the feeling that Bush is the one who got caught.  Now, I’m pretty confident that a guy like Tim Tebow would have complied with this rule, but he is truly a needle in a haystack when it comes to athletes with extremely high moral virtue.  Have other athletes – even former Heisman winners – received improper funding?

Well, eh hem…Bush is the one who got caught.  And I don’t want to seem like I am defending him.  He was clearly wrong to do what he did.  But there’s something about ruling a person ineligible after the fact that seem unfair to me.  Bush’s case is drastically different than, let’s say…someone who took performance-enhancing drugs.  Reggie’s performance was all his own, and there was nothing unsportsmanlike about his actions. 

The acceptance of illegitimate funds is a crisis that has to be addressed at the organizational level for it to have any lasting effect.

And the NCAA penalties against USC should encourage universities to go out of their way to ensure that their student athletes are doing the right things.

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