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It has been almost a decade and a half since USC Trojans running back Reggie Bush was stripped of his 2005 Heisman Trophy before it was reinstated by the Heisman Trust in April. The former Trojans running back was so prolific that he was the cover star on the 2007 EA Sports College Football game.
During an "All the Smoke" podcast, the $25 million-worth Bush (as per Celebrity Net Worth) discussed the new EA Sports College Football game that permitted featured student-athletes to be paid for their name, image and likeness.
"Yeah they owe me a lot, you know what I'm saying. But how ironic is it that you look on that cover, and you see my picture and the NCAA over my chest, how ironic is that? How full-circle is that right now, based on what we're talking about right now and the exploitation that the NCAA was able to get away with for so long?" Reggie Bush said.
Reggie Bush gets mixed reaction to Heisman reinstatement
The Reggie Bush and the Heisman Trophy saga has been one of the longest-running storylines in modern college football, with the former USC star kicking up a hornet's nest almost 15 years after it was stripped from him.
2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was at the forefront of the campaign to have it reinstated, even threatening to boycott future ceremonies. According to ESPN analyst Pete Thamel, his voice made a difference in the Heisman Trust's decision to reinstate it.
During an appearance on "The Favorites" podcast, the outspoken former Texas A&M star was delighted that Bush got his trophy back and had a few coarse words for the NCAA for playing a part in him losing it in the first place.
"The first thing I thought of whenever he got it back was, (expletive) the NCAA, you know?" Manziel said. "They deserve everything they have coming to them. It's only a matter of time until we see the demise of the NCAA forever. I'll be sitting here with a bucket of popcorn and my Heisman Trophy right next to me, waiting for that day that I see that alert."
Not everyone was delighted with Reggie Bush getting his trophy back, with OutKick analyst Dan Dakich raging against the injustice of it all during a segment of the "Don't @ Me" podcast.
"Reggie Bush knowingly, willingly cheated," Dakich said. "Bush knowingly, willingly — it's proven — took money, a house, the whole family, cheated his brains out. Guy who cheated is now living in a world where cheating doesn't matter, where we can just do whatever we wanna do? I don't think it's something to be celebrated."
Despite getting his Heisman Trophy back, Reggie Bush is still pushing on with his defamation suit against the NCAA, which was filed last August.
