Name at birth: Reginald Alfred Bush II
Reggie Bush won the 2005 Heisman Trophy as college footballs best player while he was a running back at the University of Southern California. He had gained 6,617 all-purpose yards in college and joined USCs impressive list of past Heisman honorees, including his teammate, Matt Leinart (2004), Carson Palmer (2002), and the infamous O.J. Simpson (1968). Bush then skipped his senior year to sign a six-year contract with the New Orleans Saints worth a guaranteed $26.3 million. Reggie Bush then went on to do something none of those other three USC stars did: he won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints in 2010. He also made headlines by dating socialite and TV star Kim Kardashian. However, in 2006, Yahoo Sports and other news organizations alleged that Reggie Bush and his family had accepted as much as $300,000 in cash and goods from a prospective sports marketer while he was at USC -- a major violation of student-athlete regulations. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began a four-year investigation into Bush and USC which ended in 2010, when the school was forced to forfeit all its wins from the end of 2004 and all of 2005, including its BCS national championship win in January of 2005. In September of 2010, while the situation was under review by the Heisman Trust, Reggie Bush announced that he would forfeit his Heisman Trophy.
Reggie Bush is the first Heisman Trophy winner ever to forfeit the award… The Heisman Trust decided not to award the 2005 Heisman to anyone else after Bush returned it. Vince Young of the University of Texas was the second-highest vote-getter that year… Bush starred in football and track at Helix High School, La Mesa, California… His charitable contributions in New Orleans reportedly have included 12 Hummer vehicles given to agencies working on hurricane recovery… Reggie Bush also was sued by one of the agents, Lloyd Lake, and settled out of court; the details of that settlement have not been released.