The 2006 BCS National Championship game is one of the greatest games in college football history. Not only because of the level of play between the two teams, but because it also featured Texas QB Vince Young and USC RB Reggie Bush — the runner-up and winner in that year’s Heisman Trophy race.
That year’s race was controversial not just because of the strong contingent of fans that believed Young deserved the trophy, but also because of what happened after. Once it was discovered that Bush received weekly payments and rent-free housing for himself and his family, he was stripped of his award.
What Young did afterward is something that Bush has never forgotten.
“When penalties were happening and the Heisman Trust stripped me of the Heisman Trophy, one of the things that they did was they went to Vince and they asked him if he wanted the trophy,” Bush said in an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast. “Vince says to the Heisman Trust, ‘that’s Reggie’s trophy.'”
You got to think, first of all, he just beat us. So they on top of the world. They just took down the No. 1 team. He would have every right or in that moment, if he wanted to, to be like ‘Absolutely. Let me get that.”
Young was on top of the college football world in 2006 and led Texas to one of the most legendary wins in football history. During the Heisman ceremony, he was obviously miffed when he realized he hadn’t won the award, so Young likely felt some way about losing to Bush.
The USC RB eventually got the Heisman back some years later. Regardless, the respect that Young had for Bush and what they both achieved in that game was bigger than the trophy. Young and his rival went head to head, creating a piece of history that will stand the test of time.
“That respect and that bond you create on the battlefield, on the football field. You can’t break that,” Bush said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Why Texas’ Vince Young refused to take Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy
Austin American-Statesman
