Reggie Bush announced Wednesday that he is suing the NCAA for defamation.

The former running back for the University of Southern California alleges the regulatory body for college athletics falsely accused him of a pay-to-play arrangement, denying him the ability to restore his collegiate record and the prestigious Heisman Trophy he won and later forfeited.

What You Need To Know

  • Former USC running back Reggie Bush is suing the NCAA for defamation

  • Bush announced the lawsuit Wednesday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where Bush helped win the USC Trojans back-to-back national championships and the Heisman Trophy in 2005

  • Bush had to return the Heisman Trophy and forfeit his 2005 USC record for violating NCAA rules

  • The lawsuit is seeking compensation and the restoration of his Heisman and USC record

“I got dreams of walking back in here and seeing my jersey, my banner right down there next to the rest of the Heisman Trophy winners,” Bush said Wednesday during a press conference announcing the defamation lawsuit at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where Bush played for the USC Trojans, helping the team win back-to-back national NCAA championships and the Heisman Trophy in 2005.

Now an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports, Bush gave back his Heisman Trophy after an NCAA investigation found he had violated the association’s rules. It was the first time the top award in college football was returned by a recipient.

A four-year NCAA investigation that ended in 2010 found Bush’s 2005 season with the Trojans was ineligible for the Heisman because, as a student athlete, Bush had accepted gifts worth several hundred thousand dollars from a pair of marketing agents in California, including cash, travel expenses and a home for his parents in the San Diego area.

On Wednesday, Bush said the NCAA “accusing me of engaging in a pay-for-play arrangement is 100% not true. Not only is it not true, but there’s no evidence to even support that claim.”

Bush said his parents were never interviewed as part of the NCAA investigation. He said the lawsuit is about truth, getting the facts and holding the NCAA accountable.

“I want to clear up a couple of popular misconceptions,” Bush's attorney Levi McCathern said. “The first misconception is that he was paid by USC to play football. Some schools did that. USC did not, and Reggie never got a dime. A second popular misconception is Reggie was somehow paid by a sponsor, alumni, someone in the school. No one ever paid him.”

McCathern said Bush was paid a $1,000 monthly stipend during the time he played for USC. The financial violations the NCAA investigated, he added, were a loan made to Bush to repair his car and a hotel room for Bush to change his clothes before an award ceremony.

Filed in Indiana, the defamation lawsuit stems from a July 28, 2021, NCAA statement issued to reporters that Bush had been involved in a pay-to-play arrangement and would not be able to restore his collegiate record. The lawsuit alleges the NCAA statement, which was circulated to at least 20 media organizations, was false.

The NCAA statement was made following a Supreme Court ruling that forced the NCAA to change its rules and allow college athletes to receive benefits from their names, images and likenesses with endorsements and appearances. When reporters asked the NCAA in 2021 whether the new rules would allow Bush’s USC record and Heisman Trophy to be reinstated, the NCAA said the money Bush and his family received while he was at USC constituted a pay-for-play type arrangement, not NIL compensation.

McCathern contends the NCAA knew Bush was never accused of, involved in or sanctioned for any pay-for-play arrangement. Through the lawsuit, McCathern is seeking to clear the NCAA’s alleged defamation of Bush and compensate him for the allegations that he played for pay. In addition, Bush’s lawyers have petitioned the NCAA for reconsideration, asking the organization to restore his USC record and the Heisman Trophy.