So the folks who give away the Heisman trophy are talking about sneaking into Reggie Bush’s house and taking back their trophy. They haven’t made up their minds yet but they’re talking about it publicly. Testing the waters if you will. This is a bad idea. As much as we’d all love to, we can’t rewrite history.
Take back the trophy and you open up a giant can of worms. Are you telling me there’s not another member of the Hesiman trophy club that didn’t receive some sort of under the table help when they were a collegiate player? Only a fool and an idiot would believe that to be true. Any college kid who went to a major university and watched sports knows better.
Let me tell you a little story. I can’t tell you for sure if it’s true, but I believed the man when he told me because he would know. He knew where all the bones were buried. Back in the late 80’s I was the radio voice of Texas A&M. Football is of course king in the state of Texas and basketball was and still is the bastard step-child.
The late Shelby Metcalf was the basketball coach of the Aggies or 27 years and a good one. He first came to College Station in 1958, a year after John David Crow won the Heisman trophy and became a legend at A&M. In 1988 Crow was named Athletic Director at A&M. Sitting in Metcalf’s office a few months after Crow took over, Shelby said to me in his slow southwestern drawl, “John David says he’s going to clean up college athletics, that’s funny coming out of the mouth of a guy who was bought and paid for to come to A&M.”
Like I said, I can’t say the statement’s true, but I believe him knowing what I do about football at A&M. Now is the Heisman committee going to go back and investigate Crow? No. Nor should they. He was voted the best player in the country that year and nothing will change that. Nothing will change the fact Bush was given the Heisman either. Hey if you want to pull a Heisman, go get O.J.’s.
As a former Heisman voter I just want to tell the Hesiman trust to stand down. You can’t change the past. That’s something only the NCAA thinks is possible.
