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Former University of Southern California star running back Reggie Bush is suing the NCAA for defamation related to a 2021 statement from college sports’ governing body about a “pay-for-play arrangement” Bush says was directed at him.
He’s also asking the NCAA to reinstate his football records so he can get his 2005 Heisman Trophy back.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Marion Superior Court, stems back to a comment made by an NCAA spokesperson following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2021 ruling that college athletes can receive education-related payments for use of their name, image and likeness — or NIL.
In response to the ruling, the NCAA said in a statement its rules still prohibit “pay-for-play type arrangements.”
The complaint points to an ESPN.com article and says the NCAA gave the same statement to other media outlets — on top of publications that copied the original statement.
The statement doesn’t directly mention Bush, who helped lead USC to back-to-back national championship games in 2004 and 2005. Following an NCAA investigation and report in which Bush was accused of accepting benefits from a sports marketing agency, USC was forced to vacate wins, and Bush’s Heisman Trophy was also vacated.
“In this context, a reasonable reader would understand the Statement to apply to Mr. Bush and no one else,” the lawsuit says. “Indeed, the media outlets that published the Statement expressly understood the Statement to refer to Mr. Bush. So too did millions of readers across the world.”
The NCAA’s statement was also false, the complaint says.
“Mr. Bush was never offered money to compete for USC. Mr. Bush never considered accepting such a proposal,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Bush did not accept any money or benefits in return for enrolling at and/or competing for USC.”
Shortly before the disputed statement, ESPN.com reported the Heisman Trophy Trust said it “looks forward to welcoming him back to the Heisman family” should the NCAA reinstate his 2005 status.
Bush retired from football in 2017 and is now a college football analyst with FOX Sports.
He is being represented in the lawsuit by Hoover Hull Turner LLP.
The NCAA declined to comment.
The case is Reginald A. Bush, II v. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, 49D01-2308-CT-033106.
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