Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel will no longer participate in the annual trophy ceremony until Reggie Bush is welcomed back into the Heisman fraternity, Manziel announced Saturday.
“After careful thought and consideration I will be humbly removing myself from the Heisman trophy ceremony until @ReggieBush gets his trophy back,” Manziel, the 2012 winner, posted to his X, formerly Twitter, account. “Doesn’t sit right with my morals and values that he can’t be on that stage with us every year. Reggie IS the Heisman trophy.
“Do the RIGHT thing @NCAA the ball is in your court.”
Bush won the 2005 Heisman Trophy to wrap up his stellar career at Southern California, where he ran for 3,169 yards, gained 1,301 receiving yards and returned kickoffs and punts for a combined 2,082 yards. He totaled 42 touchdowns and also threw a 52-yard touchdown pass.
In 2005, he was a first-team All-American and named the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year.
But he was stripped of his Heisman Trophy and his NCAA stats after a four-year investigation by the NCAA showed that Bush and his family took improper financial benefits, including cash and paid-for housing.
When name, image and likeness legislation was enacted in 2021, Bush asked the NCAA to reinstate his status. The Heisman Trust said it would consider giving back his trophy if the NCAA agreed to reinstate him, which the organization declined to do.
Manziel recently told Shannon Sharpe on the Club Shay Shay podcast that he intends to fight for Bush.
“I’m gonna continue to do everything that I can in my power, whatever that may be. … But for what I can in my part, I will always stand on this table right here for Reggie Bush and do anything that I can in my power to make sure that it’s possible for him to even get his trophy back,” said Manziel, who won his Heisman while playing for Texas A&M.
–Field Level Media