Paul Finebaum: Return of Reggie Bush Heisman Trophy 'means amateurism is dead'

The Heisman Trust moved Wednesday to return Reggie Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy in a move that many called overdue. ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum had a more pointed take: It’s the death knell for college athletics.

Joining Matt Barrie on SportsCenter, Finebaum explained his reasoning.

“It means that amateurism is dead, Matt. And it’s really been dead for a very long time, but the people that run college athletics have simply refused to admit it,” Finebaum said. “The fact that we are having to celebrate this decision today is outrageous. I mean college athletes have been making money legally now for almost three years but today we all decided, ‘Oh this is great, what a terrible injustice has been overturned.’ What took them so long, Matt, is what I ask you?”

Bush was one of the most electrifying players in the sport in the last two decades, emerging as a bona fide superstar at USC in an era when the Trojans were chock full of them.

But for a long time, Bush was stripped of college football’s top honor due to violations that essentially amounted to pay-for-play.

Some of the same things Bush was nailed for are now perfectly legal today, one of the reasons the Heisman Trust felt compelled to rectify the situation.

For Finebaum, though, the return of Bush’s Heisman is emblamatic of the NCAA being unable to put effective controls on the sport.

“It is. I agree with you on that, Matt, because they have no teeth,” Finebaum said. “There’s nothing left. The Heisman Trust was simply following directions from other people. Now why it took them so long can be debated in the history books. But at least they got it right today.”

The bottom line, though, is that today’s game is very different than the one Bush grew up in. Even if what he did wasn’t legal back then, the sport is shifting to allow athletes to make more off their name, image and likeness.

Bush would have raked back then. Legally.

“It’s an amazing inflection point I think, Matt, in time, because every time you hear a college administrator stand up to a podium and talk about the student-athlete, I think people like us raise our eyebrows and roll our eyes, because that’s not where they are anymore,” Finebaum said. “They’re all making money. They’re all making money legally. It just depends on how much they are making. And the NCAA, which once ruled this sport in a very Draconian fashion, has simply been brought to its knees and today is confirmation of that.”