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BY MARK MAI

In print | Published April 27, 2006

The Reggie Bush saga continues. In the weeks leading up to the 2006 NFL Draft, all eyes have

been on Reggie. Understandably, Reggie should be the focus for the draft. He won the 2005 Heisman Trophy, led USC to a ton of wins and generally seems like a great guy. For quite a while now, Reggie Bush has been slated as the number one pick for the draft, based on athletic ability alone.

Yet, all of the recent headlines on Bush haven’t been about his superman moves on the field, his playmaking abilities or any of his skills. Instead, the most recent news on Bush has questioned his character. Of all things, Reggie Bush’s character?

The story is that during Reggie’s past season at USC, he and his family had been living in a new $750,000 home in San Diego. The catch is that the home was listed as having been owned by Michael Michaels, a man looking to be Reggie’s agent in the NFL.

Nothing definitive has been said either way about whether or not the deal was legit. If Reggie’s parents paid market value rent, then there wasn’t any violation of NCAA rules. However, if Reggie and his family had been living there for free, there could possibly be some huge implications. Most likely, this won’t affect Bush’s draft selection, but if the story is proven true, USC could forfeit its 2005 Pac-10 title and Bush could lose his coveted Heisman, in the worst-case scenario.

Although this is considered a minor complication in Bush’s road to the NFL, he also recently made comments about how collegiate athletes should get paid. First of all, making comments like this will put you even more into the spotlight, which he assuredly doesn’t want. Secondly, the concept is absurd.

Bush claims, “It’s a lot of hard work preparing for the college season, and at the end of the day, it’s a lot of strain on your body, and you’re dealing with a lot of pressure.” Okay, that’s all well and fine, and sure, you should receive some recognition, but I don’t think getting a new $750,000 house is the best way to combat the system, Reggie. Plus, how are you going to decide who gets paid what? Does the team split earnings? Do all the teams of a college get a fair share of the cash? Or do you want to base your paycheck on individual merit, Mr. Bush? What’s fair and what’s not?

You know what? I actually agree with Bush. He single-handedly brought in over $500,000 in revenue to USC. He’s a difference maker. He deserves to get some credit. But remind me who he’s playing for again? Oh that’s right, the UNIVERSITY of Southern California. USC is a school? I didn’t realize that.

A lot of people across the nation hold Bush’s sentiment, as well. But if you’ve been keeping up on my column, last week I questioned the integrity of the collegiate athletic system, seeing as how teams are often dissociated from the institution they are tied to.

If you wanted to pay collegiate athletes, they wouldn’t really be students anymore. They’d be paid employees of an athletic organization. Anyway, they’re already getting tons of perks as it is. Some get good housing, scholarships, and free parking on campus. They already are getting paid. Bush is saying that free education isn’t good enough for him. He needs money to pay the bills too.

But as students in a school, athletes should be held to the same expectations as everyone else. What they do on the field is simply payment for the education provided for them. No one said it would be easy. Sure Bush has brought a lot to USC over the past couple of years. But in reality, look where USC brought Bush. He’s going to the NFL. Anyone that brings THAT much revenue back to a school is going to end up getting paid handsomely in the NFL, NBA, or what have you, anyway.

So to Bush and everyone who think athletes should get paid to “pay the bills” — suck it up. You’re entertaining to watch on the field, but you aren’t really that important. Guess what? We “students” have to pay both the bills AND the tuition.

Mark is a first-year. You can reach him at mmai1@swarthmore.edu.

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