The NCAA found enough wrongdoing with Reggie Bush to essentially strip the former USC star running back of his Heisman Trophy, force the school to vacate wins, and put the program on probation, but they have no problem selling autographed merchandise from the disgraced player.
We included this item in Tuesday’s post on Jay Bilas’ amazing takedown of the NCAA, but we figured it deserved its own post so nobody missed this hypocritical act.
As LBS tipster Joel shared with us, the NCAA official store is selling a Reggie Bush autographed 8×10 photo of the former Trojans star running away from the Oklahoma Sooners during USC’s 55-19 win at the 2005 Orange Bowl. They’re charging nearly $180 for it.
After the NCAA concluded that Bush violated rules by accepting gifts from at least Dec. 2004 onward, they forced USC to vacate their last two wins in the 2004 season. Those two games were a Dec. 4 win over UCLA, and the shellacking of Oklahoma to punctuate an unbeaten season. The Trojans also vacated all their wins in a 12-1 season the next year. They were placed on probation for four years, received a two-year bowl ban, and lost 30 scholarships over three years because of Bush’s violations. Oh, and as a bonus, the NCAA told USC to disassociate itself with Bush.
So the NCAA will penalize a school and individual for violating rules and tell the university not to associate with the individual, but they have no problem profiting off that same player’s name, image, and autograph. That’s really sound logic, right there.
