Regardless of motive, Bush should be applauded for this move. He was by no means the first or only Heisman winner who failed to follow NCAA rules with regards to eligibility. Yet he chose to fall on his sword, admit he made "mistakes," and now pledges to help other college athletes avoid falling into the same trap he did.
In his statement, Bush all but admitted that he took illegal benefits during his time at USC:
"For the rest of my days, I will continue to strive to demonstrate through my actions and words that I was deserving of the confidence placed in me by the Heisman Trophy Trust. I would like to begin this effort by turning a negative situation into a positive one by working with the Trustees to establish an educational program which will assist student-athletes and their families avoid some of the mistakes that I made. I am determined to view this event as an opportunity to help others and to advance the values and mission of the Heisman Trophy Trust."
Here's the problem, implying guilt and sort-of-kind-of expressing remorse don't cut it. If you are going to give back an award of that magnitude, basically telling the whole world "I did wrong," what's stopping you from coming out and actually telling the whole world "I did wrong"?
Look at the baseball players who got caught using performance enhancers. Roger Clemens denied everything and became a hated figure. Andy Petite stood right up and admitted to using them and all was forgiven.
That's not to say Bush would be forgiven by USC fans or college football fans in general. But at least he'd be looked at as someone who took full responsibility for his actions.
When he apologized- oops, my mistake, when he spoke "contritely" to Pat Haden in August, I called it a first step. This is another step in the right direction, but I'm still waiting for the day Reggie Bush comes clean and gives a real apology to all the people he hurt through his actions.
To be completely honest, I'm not holding my breath.
