Tyler Stearns |
In the world of modern college athletics, Reggie Bush getting his Heisman back felt like a must. With NIL and the Transfer Portal, the NCAA has effectively enabled free agency in a once highly regulated sport.
College sports, particularly football, were never meant to be treated like a professional sport. The incentive to attend school was to play football and get a degree - the traditional student-athlete experience. Now, a player chooses a school based on compensation from endorsements and under-the-table payments. The NCAA allowed players to use their NIL for compensation in 2021. After that, colleges have taken advantage of that. Schools that haven't been able to compete for years are now playoff candidates. Teams that were able to take advantage of lesser-known recruits and develop them into All-Americans are less able to do so. Though it has created a lot of parity in the sport which many believe is good, there are no regulations around NIL. Recently, the NCAA lost a court case (detailed in a previous article) about NIL removing its power to enforce its rules on universities. Now, they decided to give Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy back. It is long-awaited, but the Trojan star can call himself one of USC's record eight Heisman winners. But what does it mean for the NCAA? The NCAA is now losing even more power. Although Bush did something that would be considered a minor infraction in today's collegiate landscape, the rules were the rules at that time. There is nothing you can do to change that, unfortunately. However, after protests from former Heisman winners and college football fans, the NCAA rescinds their previous decision. At this moment, the NCAA is imploding and this decision is one of the many reasons why.
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