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BY PAUL ROLFE

Former USC running back Reggie Bush has juked himself out of his 2005 Heisman Trophy. On Tuesday he voluntarily returned college football’s highest individual honor before the Heisman Trophy Trust even made its final decision on the matter.

It could be an attempt to save some dignity according to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.

WILLIE: “The story, Joe, is that he caught word, Reggie Bush, that they were going to take it away from him and they gave him the opportunity to give it back so that he wouldn’t be as embarrassed or more embarrassed than he’s already been.”
JOE: “I don’t like it.”
WILLE: “I don’t like it either.”
JOE: “What he did was wrong, but he was the best player in the land.”

This is the first time the award has been returned in its 75-year history. Joe Carter from HLN wonders why Bush would give the Heisman back now after denying any wrongdoing for so long.

“Now while this is a noble move, I think it’s the right move. It leaves me sort of wondering why. For the past few years Bush has emphatically said that he is clean, that he never took money, that his family never took gifts, that he never took any money while he was at USC. But I think at this point, Robin, it’s just gotten to the point where the circus and the pressure surrounding him and the Heisman just became too much.”

Either way, debate now begins over what happens next to the 2005 award. The Heisman Trophy Trust, an eight-member panel that oversees the trophy, could leave the spot vacant or give it to that year’s runner-up -- Vince Young. On CNN, Max Kellerman says Young should have had it anyway.

“In the most important game of the season, a game that he led his team too. He had maybe the greatest game in the history of college sports period. And his team won the national championship. So I really thought Vince Young deserved the Heisman ... I think it’s certainly a good idea that if Reggie Bush is no longer the Heisman winner in ‘05 that Vince Young should be retroactively awarded the award.”

Over on ESPN, Trevor Matich thinks the trophy would look good on Texas’s wall. But, Young should turn it down even if he’s offered it.

“Ya know, if I’m Vince Young, I really don’t want the trophy. Just because from an athlete’s standpoint, if you didn’t think I deserved it then, don’t give it to me now on a technicality. But I think the Heisman Trust should offer it to Vince Young.”

NBC Sports’ John Taylor doesn’t want to twist history by giving Young the award. Beyond that, he considers it a moral issue.

“No, the right thing to do would be to vacate the award for that year, and allow it to stand as a symbol that, regardless of how many electrifying things a player may do on the football field for his football team, there's a certain level of responsibility and accountability that needs to be adhered to as well.”

Vince Young refuses to comment on the subject. Let us know what you think about Bush giving the trophy up and what you think will happen with the now-vacant spot.

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