I'll Be Smiling When They Take Away Reggie Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy
Just Can't Get "The Bush Push" Out of My Mind - Even After Two Years
January 24, 2008
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By: O. J. Cunningham
Reggie Bush (5) pushes USC QB Matt Leinhart into the endzone on the final play of the 2005 USC-Notre Dame game.
The Bush Push - Another Angle
I'm NOT going to be sad when they take away Reggie Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy.
What goes around . . . comes around . . .
Over time, I have grown accustomed to thinking of Reggie Bush as one of the highest paid college football players of all time (During his final years at USC.)
Ever since the "Bush Push" of USC's Matt Leinart into the endzone in the final seconds of the 2005 USC-Notre Dame game, I have had a lingering dislike for Bush.
According to Section 2, Article 2b of the N.C.A.A. rulebook, "The runner shall not grasp a teammate; and no other player of his team shall grasp, push, lift or charge into him to assist him in forward progress."
One rulebook's illegal push is another man's heady play. The rule is often ignored, much like a three-second violation in basketball or a second baseman in baseball needing to touch the bag while turning a double play.
It wasn't so much that it happened and the refs missed the call . . . but . . . In post-game interviews, I remember USC coaches and players blatantly admitting to and laughing about the "Bush Push" -- as if it hardly mattered.
It mattered to me.
And the fact that it was so ridiculously visible . . . had many television viewers asking . . . "Can he do that?" or "Is that legal?"
But after awhile, the media coverage went away . . . and most have forgotten.
Not me . . .
The recent flap about Reggie Bush's "money issues" during the last two years of his USC college career has re-kindled old memories and re-opened a long-healed two-year-old wound.
So I take this moment to "flashback" and share this little bit of video football nostalgia from 2005. It is the last three minutes and thirty seconds (3:30) of the 2005 USC-Notre Dame football game.
It includes the "Immaculate Ejection" of the football out of the grasp of USC QB Matt Leinhart (out-of-bounds) with seven (7) seconds remaining that miraculously gave USC
one more play. (They had no more time-outs)
On the next and final play, QB Matt Leinart is stopped at the goal line by the Irish defense . . . but watch for Reggie Bush
(Jersey #5) as he pushes (in front of God and everybody) Leinart into the endzone.
Click Here to watch "The Bush Push."
And if you still want more . . .
Click HERE
O. J. Cunningham
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O. J. Cunningham is the Publisher of MyBayCity.com. Cunningham previously published Sports Page & Bay City Enterprise. He is the President/CEO of OJ Advertising, Inc.
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