WATCH: Former Heisman winner Reggie Bush makes Dodgers ceremonial pitch against Cincinnati Reds
Former Heisman trophy winning running back Reggie Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Dodgers stadium on Friday night. This was before the Los Angeles Dodgers faced the Cincinnati Reds.
Bush was accompanied by his former USC Trojans teammate Matt Leinart, who won the 2004 Heisman Trophy. Leinart sat behind the home plate to catch Bush's first pitch.
Reggie Bush can once again call himself a Heisman Trophy winner again.
Bush won the Heisman in 2005, a season where he was the most dominant player in college football, recording 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Bush won his Heisman after receiving 91.77% of the vote. The only player to earn a greater percentage since is Joe Burrow, who led the LSU Tigers to a national championship win in 2019, with 93.8%.
However, Bush did not hold onto his trophy for long. The NCAA investigated Bush and the Trojan programs due to Bush reportedly receiving gifts, including a limousine to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. At the time, this was in violation of the NCAA's policies, and USC paid the price.
Fearing that he would have his Heisman stripped from him, Bush voluntarily forfeited his award.
However, in this period, college football has changed. Players making millions of dollars and signing sponsorship deals are now commonplace, but Bush was stripped of his award for that reason.
In April 2024, Bush had his Heisman Trophy reinstated after nearly 20 years. This was due to, as the Heisman Trust put it in their statement signaling Bush's reinstatement:
"Enormous changes in the college football landscape."
Reggie Bush was not the only Heisman Trophy winner present at the Dodger stadium on Friday
Matt Leinart, another Heisman Trophy winner, was at Dodgers stadium for Reggie Bush's pitch.
Unlike Bush, Leinart was never involved in any controversy that stripped him of his Heisman Trophy, but like Bush, he fully deserved to win it.
During his 2004 season, Leinart threw for 3,322 yards and scored 33 touchdowns in a season where the USC Trojans went unbeaten to win the national championship. This championship would later be vacated due to the results of the Reggie Bush investigation.
The unbeaten season was not easy but Leinart delivered when the Trojans needed it the most. This included a quarterback sneak touchdown with three seconds left on the clock to defeat rivals the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Leinart won the Heisman Trophy, defeating Bush, Adrian Peterson and Alex Smith. The latter three players became household names, but Leinart was never able to convert his college form into the NFL.