PASADENA, Calif. — At the end of a year in which his Heisman Trophy was returned, while celebrating his induction into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, legendary USC running back Reggie Bush spoke at length Tuesday on the current state of college sports and the challenges current players face navigating Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal.
Bush, 39, called for college football players to unionize.
“NIL is not the fix,” Bush said, speaking to a group of reporters at the University Club of Pasadena. “I hate that NIL has become the thing people look to and say, ‘Now everything is good. Now the kids have everything they need and they’re good and making millions of dollars. That’s not true.
“The top one percent in college football is making money. That’s it. It’s usually a quarterback or someone like Travis Hunter. Other than that, everybody else is still working to get there, to get to that next level. To get some kind of money. … I think at some point the players need to unionize so they can collectively bargain. And so they can start to get into a more fair workplace for everybody.”
Bush relinquished his 2005 Heisman after a NCAA investigation into USC found alleged recruiting violations involving then-impermissible benefits allegedly given to Bush and his family. Bush denies those claims and filed a lawsuit for his reinstatement into the NCAA in 2023 after entering the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Heisman Trust — a separate institution from the NCAA — reinstated Bush’s trophy in April as college sports continues to evolve and payments to college athletes become more and more commonplace.
“I was broke in college,” Bush said. “We had nothing. We had no money, we had nothing. We were eating Top Ramen, Malt-O-Meal … But also, the thing about that time period we as we knew this wasn’t that final stop. We knew this was a stepping stone for us to get to that next place. That’s still what college football is, but I think there needs to be more direction. There needs to be more protection for the players as well.”
Bush, who expressed a desire to be a head coach someday at the collegiate level, said he believes a college player’s union would help players learn about and earn their worth in the NIL marketplace, and navigate the complexities of the transfer portal before and after entering. In an age where social media and branding has a heavy influence on college athletes’ decisions, Bush said too much of the burden has fallen on the athletes to figure everything out on their own, and he believes they need more guidance.
“When you talk about the transfer portal, you hear about the great stories,” Bush said. “But you don’t hear about the other side of kids who go in the transfer portal and don’t make it out, or kids who go in the transfer portal thinking they’re going to a better situation, but that situation doesn’t end up being there for him. You’re having to make really, really big decisions as an 18- and 19-year-old kid, and these are decisions that can affect the rest of your life and your career.”
Bush was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame alongside former Oregon running back LaMichael James and longtime Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio.
CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl
- Who: No. 1 Oregon Ducks (13-0) vs. No. 8 Ohio State (11-2)
- When: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- Time: 2 p.m. PT
- Where: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
- TV channel: ESPN
- Stream: You can watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or by signing up for Sling (cheapest streaming plans, $25 off your first month). If you already have cable, you can also watch this game live on Watch ESPN with your cable or satellite provider login information.
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— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.
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