Reggie Bush’s family back in possession of Heisman Trophy
By Paul Pabst, The Dan Patrick Show
On Friday, July 15, the San Diego Hall of Champions returned the 2005 Heisman Trophy to former USC running back Reggie Bush and his parents, Lamar and Denise Griffin. The Bush family regained possession of the trophy which had been at the SDHOC since March 22 when the Griffins signed a loan agreement to let the SDHOC display it.
In a statement, the SDHOC said: “The San Diego Hall of Champions today (Friday) returned Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy to the Bush family. In doing so, the organization feels it is best to direct any further questions to the Bush family or the Heisman Trust.”
Bush and his family did not add any comment to the SDHOC statement. Bush and the Griffins have turned down our requests for an interview and have said nothing publicly about the possibility of returning the Heisman Trophy to the Heisman Trust.
This is a change in direction from three weeks ago when SDHOC President Al Kidd told KLSD-AM in San Diego that he had “every intention” of putting the trophy on display.
According to sources, the Heisman Trust contacted both the San Diego Hall of Champions and the Bush family last week to request the return of Bush’s Heisman Trophy to its office in New York City.
Back on September 14, 2010, Reggie Bush issued a statement in which he said he was forfeiting “my title” as the 2005 Heisman winner after the results were released of an NCAA investigation into improper benefits he allegedly received during his time at USC. One day later, the Heisman Trust issued a statement stating their appreciation for Bush’s cooperation and declared there would be no winner for 2005.
In that statement, Bush never specifically said that he would return the actual trophy to the Heisman Trust. On June 7, a source with the Heisman Trust told the Dan Patrick Show that nine months after Bush’s statement in which he forfeited the Heisman honor, he had still not returned the trophy. The source added that they made multiple calls to Bush’s representatives over the 9-month span, with no response. Regarding the fact that Bush never said he would return the trophy, the Heisman Trust source said at that time “the whole world reasonably expected him to return it.”
As of Sunday night the Heisman Trust continued its recent policy of not commenting on the Bush situation when asked about the status of the trophy.