When the NCAA finally agreed to let college football players make money from sources other than their programs, the treatment of Reggie Bush became glaring.
But instead of, you know, giving Bush his Heisman Trophy back, the NCAA doubled down. Bush is now fighting back.
Via J. Brady McCullough of the Los Angeles Times, Bush will hold a Wednesday news conference at the L.A. Coliseum to announce plans to file a defamation lawsuit against the NCAA.
“The lawsuit is based on the NCAA maliciously attacking his character through a completely false and highly offensive statement that was widely reported in the media and substantially and irreparably damaged his reputation,” Bush’s attorneys, Levi G. McCathern and Ty M. Sheaks, said in a statement.
The statement came from the NCAA’s reasoning for refusing to restore Bush’s college records and to reinstate his Heisman Trophy.
“Specifically, on July 28, 2021, the NCAA . . . falsely issued a statement to reporters that because of Mr. Bush’s prior involvement in a ‘pay-for-play arrangement’ the NCAA would not consider restoring his collegiate records that it vacated in 2010, which subsequently resulted in Mr. Bush having to return his Heisman Trophy,” the attorneys said. “Within less than a day, this false statement was republished by no less than 20 different media organizations and circulated to readers around the world.”
The NCAA’s blunder came from the use of the term “pay-for-play.” This refers to a player seeking money in exchange for playing for a specific school. In Bush’s case, the benefits to Bush’s family reportedly came from an agency that had hoped to represent Bush, once he made it to the NFL.
“The NCAA knew Mr. Bush was never even accused of, involved in, much less sanctioned for any ‘pay-for-play arrangement’ which never occurred,” Bush’s attorneys said.
As defamatory statements go, accusing a college athlete receiving benefits to play for a certain school instead of reportedly receiving benefits from an agency that hoped to represent him doesn’t rank high on the list of scandalous accusations. Still, the “pay-for-play” claim is technically false, and the litigation becomes an intriguing way for Bush to generally attack the NCAA for its stubborn refusal to recognize that what Bush did, in hindsight, does not justify the penalties that were imposed.
