NEW YORK — Southern California has already sent back its copy of Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy.
The Heisman Trust, however, has yet to decide whether it will be asking the former USC star to return the famous bronze statue he won in 2005.
The president of the Heisman Trophy Trust, New York-based attorney William J. Dockery, said in a statement Wednesday that the organization has not determined when it will decide whether Bush should be stripped of his Heisman.
“The Trust will be considering the issues raised in the USC/Reggie Bush matter, and after reaching a decision will publish it, but due to the complex issues involved and the Trust’s desire to reach an appropriate decision, no definitive timetable has been established,” Dockery said. “Until the matter has been fully considered and a decision is reached, the Trust has no further comment.”
On Tuesday, USC said it is returning its copy of Bush’s trophy, among several measures the school is taking to distance itself from Bush in the wake of severe NCAA sanctions.
Bush, who now plays with the New Orleans Saints, was part of the focus of an NCAA investigation that determined he and his family received improper benefits from a marketing agent.
USC also hired former Trojans quarterback Pat Haden to take over for Mike Garrett as athletic director on Tuesday.
The Heisman Trust has been mostly silent during the Bush saga, but because the NCAA ruled he compromised his eligibility in 2005, the eight-person board of trustees could decide to make him the first player to be stripped of his Heisman.
Former Texas quarterback Vince Young was the runner-up to Bush in the 2005 Heisman voting. It is unlikely that the award would be given to Young if it is taken from Bush. Instead it would be vacated.
As part of the NCAA’s sanctions, USC was forced to vacate wins from the 2004 and ’05 seasons. The Bowl Championship Series has said it will wait until USC’s appeals process has run its course before determining if it will vacate the Trojans’ 2004 BCS title.