Reggie, Reggie, Reggie. You present yourself with a perfect opportunity to come clean by relinquishing your Heisman award, and fail to do so.
Reggie Bush told reporters Thursday that returning his Heisman Trophy was “not an admission of guilt.” Then what was it an admission of? Pretty soon the corner you are backing yourself into will not allow you any wiggle room and you will have to come clean then. But by then it will be too late. This was a chance to admit guilt, admit wrongdoing, apologize to the NCAA and show that you are trying to move forward.
However, not admitting to guilt not only hurts your already tarnished reputation, but if and when you eventually admit guilt, the damage is already done. At least its just a denial stage, and not him bolstering, finding ways to bring up the good things he has done to outlandish the bad.
But in the end, the opportunity is now in yesterday’s trash, and shows that Bush really does not care about what he did to the school, his reputation in college, and all he stood for. All he cares about is making the debacle go away. I said in a previous blog that he didn’t make the right choice giving back the Heisman, only a necessary one. You would assume an apology would complement that.
Instead, the lights are still on him, the “burning” Bush is burning. Pretty soon the “bush” will just become ash, burnt away from the turmoil and controversy that made it fall to its demise. So when that day comes, and he finally admits to wrongdoing, it will be too late.
All he cares about is his current reputation, and how it will effect him as an NFL player. You really think Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo care about the NCAA infractions their presence at the school created? Of course not. They are off making millions in the NBA, which was their original intention anyway.
It did not take long for Bush to lose support from at least one person who was associated with USC at one point. The one who had no support for Reggie Bush was former USC offensive coordinator and current University of Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian.
“He had a chance to apologize, look like the good guy,” Sarkisian told ESPN’s Shelley Smith. “But in giving it back and not apologizing, he just looks like an idiot again.”
Sarkisian did mention that the team was still legitimate that season, and the team’s success was not hindered by Bush’s improper benefits.
“No matter how much money he got paid, that didn’t affect how we prepared,” Sarkisian told Smith. “We weren’t the best team in football because of what he or his parents took.”
But while Bush proclaims his innocence, the USC athletic program tries to rebuild from the ground up under the leadership of new athletic director Pat Haden.
I hate to break it to you Mr. Bush, but until you admit guilt, the problem will not go away, and will continue to be something that is talked about. Sooner or later, the corner will collapse and it will take something Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-esque like climbing of walls to get out of that corner.
Sorry Reggie. Giving back the Heisman won’t make the nightmare go away. And as of now, neither will an apology.