Reggie Bush ineligible For Heisman?

[StevenOtero]

From www.profootballtalk.com
( If re-post merge or delete )
POSTED 10:58 p.m. EDT, April 23, 2006

IF REGGIE IS INELIGIBLE, WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HEISMAN?

A great question that several readers have raised in the wake of the jarring revelation that the family of former USC tailback Reggie Bush apparently was living for free in a house owned by a guy who wanted to handle Reggie's marketing work is what happens to Bush's Heisman trophy if the NCAA ultimately finds that Reggie was ineligible for the 2005 season?

Our best guess is that Bush would lose the trophy, and that it would go to Texas quarterback Vince Young, who finished second in the voting.

And though we're not suggesting that Bush eventually will have to turn over the biggest individual prize awarded in college sports, this thing easily could spin out of control -- especially since the Yahoo! Sports story has been picked up by the AP and will get a lot more play on Monday as the national talking heads begin to focus on the story.

It's not exactly the kind of attention that the Bush family was hoping to receive five days before the draft, but none of them should be surprised by the fact that their apparent decision to accept a benefit from someone who wanted to represent Reggie has been exposed.

Meanwhile, look for other journalists with more resources that us to dig deeper into the relationship between the owner of the house, Michael Michaels, and agent David Caravantes. As we explained earlier on Sunday, it appears that Michaels and Caravantes are working together in the representation of South Carolina tackle Jabari Levey. Since Caravantes is certified by the NFLPA, he might be hearing (as soon as Monday) from the union regarding his role, if any, in the acquisition of the house.

Also, the fact that Caravantes used to practice with Joel Segal -- who now represents Bush -- could prompt the NFLPA to take a look-see at whether there was any connection between Segal and the house owned by Michaels.

This one is a mess, folks. And we think it's gonna get a lot messier, quickly.

 

[BigDFan5]

The Heisman Club is not part of the NCAA, Him being ineligible does not mean he has to give up the trophy

 

[DBoys]

I think it is only fair Vince was the best player last year by a long shot. Huff took Bush out of the game while Vince tore USC a new one.

 

[BigDFan5]

I think it is only fair Vince was the best player last year by a long shot. Huff took Bush out of the game while Vince tore USC a new one.

Young was not the best player last year, and he damn sure wasnt best by a long shot lol

 

[DBoys]

Young was not the best player last year, and he damn sure wasnt best by a long shot lol

Whatever man he only won Texas the Championship on USC's turf .

Please tell me when Bush had a performance in a Championship game that compares to the game Vince had in the Rose Bowl?

 

[Qwickdraw]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...c5nYcB?slug=cr-bush042306&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Yahoo! Sports report: Reggie Bush's family home

By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports
April 23, 2006




SPRING VALLEY, Calif. – In this sprawling hilltop community with a breathtaking view of Sweetwater Lake, it was no secret who lived in the 3,000-square-foot house at the corner of Apple Street and Luther Avenue.

That home, residents would tell you, was where Reggie Bush's family lived.

That is, until this weekend, when the family abruptly packed up and vacated the residence – less than 24 hours after Yahoo! Sports approached Bush's mother about information linking the property to Michael Michaels, a man who is alleged to have tried to play a role in steering Bush toward an agent and who also has ties to a sports marketing company.

Days before Bush is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, unanswered questions about the residence and how his mother, stepfather and brother came to live in it within the last year have prompted the University of Southern California to refer the matter to the Pacific-10 Conference for an investigation.

NCAA statutes prohibit student-athletes or their families from receiving extra benefits from professional sports agents, marketing companies or their representatives. A breach of these statutes could result in an athlete being ruled ineligible, and games in which they played could be forfeited.

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USC finished 12-1 last season, its 35-game winning streak and national championship bid both ending with a loss in the Rose Bowl to Texas. Bush, a junior running back, won the Heisman Trophy and elected to skip his senior season and turn pro in January.

In response to reporters' questions about the matter late last week, USC athletic department officials said they would look into it.

"Rather than jumping to conclusions, we need to determine the facts before commenting on this report," Trojans athletic director Mike Garrett said in a statement released by the school on Friday. "We have asked the Pac-10 to look into this."

State records show the Apple Street home was built in late 2004 and early 2005, then purchased by Michaels on March 29, 2005 for $757,500. Around that time, neighbors say Bush's family moved in. Whether they had visited the house while it was being built is unknown, but there is an inscription in one of the cement slabs in the driveway reading "The Griffins '05."

Michaels is the only person who has been listed on the deed to the home.

Bush's mother, Denise Griffin, was approached in the driveway of the house on Thursday, but declined to comment.

"I have absolutely nothing to say," Griffin said when asked about ownership of the property, which is where Bush's mother, stepfather LaMar and brother Jovan lived during USC's 2005 season.

Before moving to the house on Apple Lane, Bush's family was listed as living in an apartment elsewhere in Spring Valley, a community located about 13 miles east of San Diego.

At some point after Bush's family moved into the residence, Michaels and an associate named Lloyd Lake are said to have contacted San Diego-based sports agent David Caravantes and offered to facilitate Bush's recruitment. A source with intimate knowledge of the meeting said it took place during the 2005 college football season and that Michaels was looking for a local agent to handle the contract negotiations for players he intended to sign to his marketing firm.

Michaels and Lake told Caravantes they were planning to start a sports marketing agency with Bush as their anchor client. It was also during this meeting that Michaels and Lake mentioned the potential name of the agency: New Era Sports & Entertainment.

The pitch to Caravantes was said to have been simple: He would be Bush's agent and Michaels' marketing creation would handle the promotion of the USC star. At some point after pitching this idea, Michaels informed Caravantes that Bush's family was living in a home Michaels owned. Caravantes isn't believed to have met with Bush and was never considered to be in the mix before the USC star hired Reebok adviser Mike Ornstein and agent Joel Segal of Worldwide Football Inc. as his representatives.

Repeated attempts to reach Segal and Bush were unsuccessful.

While it's unclear what official role Michaels played in New Era Sports, indications are that the company barely got off the ground – if at all. According to corporation filings in California, paperwork for New Era Sports & Entertainment was drawn up on Nov. 23, 2005, and records list the business address in Los Angeles under an attorney named Phillip M. Smith Jr.

Contacted late last week, Smith Jr. refused to talk about New Era Sports – even declining to give public details such as a phone number for the company, where the New Era offices were located or who was serving as the company's current president or manager.

Asked why he wouldn't provide such information, Smith ended the brief telephone conversation, saying, "That's really not an issue that I want to deal with." He has failed to return multiple follow-up messages left at his office.

Further attempts to identify New Era produced a single web page with a company logo (http://newerasports.tv/) that contains no active links to indicate where New Era is located, what services are provided or how the company could be contacted. Searches also produced the internet blogs of three self-proclaimed employees of New Era Sports. One such blog included the company logo of New Era and pictures of several NFL players. That blog was taken down shortly after Yahoo! Sports obtained a hard-copy of the page.

Contacted about his alleged meeting with Michaels, Caravantes declined to comment.

Michaels – who is a member of the Sycuan Indian Tribe and works as a business development officer for the tribe's development corporation – failed to return multiple phone calls and was unavailable when Yahoo! Sports visited his home on three occasions this weekend.

The Sycuan tribe, which owns a casino and resort and is engaged in a number of business enterprises in the San Diego area, denied any knowledge of Michaels' relationship with the Bush family.

"The tribe is not aware of his involvement," said spokesman Adam Day, who had been approved to speak for the Sycuan's tribal government. "Any involvement that he has in this situation is his personal involvement. It has no connection or correlation to the tribe, its businesses or Mike's employment by the tribal development corporation.

"What tribal members do on their own time is their own business. It's not the business of the tribe."

Back at the house on Apple Street on Saturday afternoon, the moving trucks had come and gone. A flier offering cleaning services for movers was hung on the front door, and all the shades had been drawn shut. Through a garage window, only a few empty cardboard boxes and straggling trinkets were visible.

Across the street, neighbor Grant Sitton could only shrug.

"I don't know, I guess it didn't work out," Sitton said. "Oh well. They have a big payday coming next week anyway."


Charles Robinson is the national NFL writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send him a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

 

[SuspectCorner]

From www.profootballtalk.com
( If re-post merge or delete )
POSTED 10:58 p.m. EDT, April 23, 2006

IF REGGIE IS INELIGIBLE, WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HEISMAN?

A great question that several readers have raised in the wake of the jarring revelation that the family of former USC tailback Reggie Bush apparently was living for free in a house owned by a guy who wanted to handle Reggie's marketing work is what happens to Bush's Heisman trophy if the NCAA ultimately finds that Reggie was ineligible for the 2005 season?

Our best guess is that Bush would lose the trophy, and that it would go to Texas quarterback Vince Young, who finished second in the voting.

And though we're not suggesting that Bush eventually will have to turn over the biggest individual prize awarded in college sports, this thing easily could spin out of control -- especially since the Yahoo! Sports story has been picked up by the AP and will get a lot more play on Monday as the national talking heads begin to focus on the story.

It's not exactly the kind of attention that the Bush family was hoping to receive five days before the draft, but none of them should be surprised by the fact that their apparent decision to accept a benefit from someone who wanted to represent Reggie has been exposed.

Meanwhile, look for other journalists with more resources that us to dig deeper into the relationship between the owner of the house, Michael Michaels, and agent David Caravantes. As we explained earlier on Sunday, it appears that Michaels and Caravantes are working together in the representation of South Carolina tackle Jabari Levey. Since Caravantes is certified by the NFLPA, he might be hearing (as soon as Monday) from the union regarding his role, if any, in the acquisition of the house.

Also, the fact that Caravantes used to practice with Joel Segal -- who now represents Bush -- could prompt the NFLPA to take a look-see at whether there was any connection between Segal and the house owned by Michaels.

This one is a mess, folks. And we think it's gonna get a lot messier, quickly.

and it will affect his big payday like how?

bush is fixin' to cash in bigtime. do you honestly think this story will influence his draft stature? the gametapes are all the evidence NFL teams require.

kijana carter won a heisman trophy. that trophy and a dollar will buy him and the other bustolas a cup of coffee.

it ain't about the actual physical trophy. it never was. it's about the feats on the field that separated him from the other thousands of college athletes hopin' to move on to something bigger and better.

if the NCAA were to take away his trophy - bush would be emotionally devastated... right up 'til a nanosecond after he cashes that first check.

it has little bearing on his future.

 

[DBoys]

and it will affect his big payday like how?

bush is fixin' to cash in bigtime. do you honestly think this story will influence his draft stature? the gametapes are all the evidence NFL teams require.

kijana carter won a heisman trophy. that trophy and a dollar will buy him and the other bustolas a cup of coffee.

it ain't about the actual physical trophy. it never was. it's about the feats on the field that separated him from the other thousands of college athletes hopin' to move on to something bigger and better.

if the NCAA were to take away his trophy - bush would be emotionally devastated... right up 'til a nanosecond after he cashes that first check.

it has little bearing on his future.

While you might be right don't think for one second he will be totally dismissed. His family will get USC in trouble. Personally I think Bush will not have the success most think he will. When he played Texas he was average White had a better game then he did. Why was that? because of speed and the NFL is a heck of a lot faster than Texas.

 

[BigDFan5]

Whatever man he only won Texas the Championship on USC's turf .

Please tell me when Bush had a performance in a Championship game that compares to the game Vince had in the Rose Bowl?

Heisman is not awarded for best game.

As for Bush he had 177 yards on 19 touches not including kick returns he averaged over 9 yards per touch and over 6 yards per rush

It's not Bush's fault that in the biggest game of the year his coach forgot who was his money maker.

 

[BigWillie]

Repost this as well in this thread ...

http://www.heisman.com/history/balloting.html

The ballots state that "In order that there will be no misunderstanding regarding the eligibility of a candidate, the recipient of the award MUST be a bona fide student of an accredited college or university including the United States Academies. The recipients must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student athlete."

Pretty cut and dry what would happen to the award, eh?

 

[calico]

Funny that the media suddenly wanted to start the Heisman voting after the NC after VY proved he was the best player in the nation and Bush was a glorified 3rd down back.

The majority of Bush's yards came on the 30 yard TD run and a screen pass...his only real bright was the screen pass that was open because Texas blitzed...which he coughed away. Reggie was a none factor all game long...especially on returns, which he is horrible at...but thanks for leaving those yards out...

It is like saying that Hambrick was excellent because Dallas had a great rushing percentage in the league during the 2003 season. Sure, he had yards, but they were meaningless yards that did not produce points.

Reggie got the Heisman because it is awarded by the media. 70% of voters admit to not following all the finalists and just vote for who SportsCenter says is the best.

I found it very amusing that VY was not in his league before the Rose Bowl, and then afterwards he was the best player in the nation "by far" according to most of the media. Especially when they were calling for the vote to come after the NC game in the future because Young would have won it by a land slide.

Anyway, I will just put he flame suit on now for those who will hate just for the sake of hating.

Bush's coach knew who the money maker was and it was White, not Bush in the Rose Bowl.

If you would have watched Vince last year...or the past 2 years, then you would have seen that he had more than just the Rose Bowl to show for...but go ahead and keep believing that.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Oh goodness, this will be a mess by tomorrow.

Like Jessie Jackson said, don't get caught messin around in those Bushes, lol.

 

[el_chevo]

Yes, I can see the look on Bush's face now as he signs that multi-million dollar contract with the Texans...Stories like that make me want to drop a big one...College athletes should be paid in some form because the University makes so much money from their services...

 

[Rack]

Yes, I can see the look on Bush's face now as he signs that multi-million dollar contract with the Texans...Stories like that make me want to drop a big one...College athletes should be paid in some form because the University makes so much money from their services...

They are given a free education. That's more then enough payment.



I guess KNOWLEDGE just isn't worth much these days?

 

[Natedawg44]

They are given a free education. That's more then enough payment.



I guess KNOWLEDGE just isn't worth much these days?

I agree totally Rack you won't find anyone feeling sorry for reggie bush in here.

 

[jackrussell]

Yes, I can see the look on Bush's face now as he signs that multi-million dollar contract with the Texans...Stories like that make me want to drop a big one...College athletes should be paid in some form because the University makes so much money from their services...

This is simply not true. They may make it, but they don't net it.

 

[THUMPER]

My neice will be attending USC starting next year on a full 4-year scholarship (@ $180K value over 4 years), not for athletics but for academics. She doesn't really benefit from it other than the education but my brother sure does since he won't have to pay her tuition now and she will be close to home so she won't have to travel a lot (she was considering schools in the Midwest and Northeast).

I would have preferred she attend UCLA or one of the schools near me in NC (Duke or UNC) but you can't turn down a deal like that.


It is tough to understand how players like Bush could be so stupid as to not figure out what the rules are in college. I am also a bit dumbfounded as to why the school never caught on to what was going on. Not that they were doing something overtly illegal (although I am sure the IRS will be VERY interested in auditing them right about now) but it does jeopardize a lot of things for the school and the team.

I don't blame Reggie per se since he is just a young guy who wants to play football but I do blame his parents, coach Carroll, and the USC ahtletic department (Mike Garrett in particular) since they should have been checking on this kind of stuff.

I'm sure it happens all the time and is very difficult to discover for the most part but with a high profile player like Bush you can't simply let it go.

It won't affect Bush now that he will be in the NFL but it could sure screw his former team pretty badly.

 

[Glenn Carano]

Whatever man he only won Texas the Championship on USC's turf .

Please tell me when Bush had a performance in a Championship game that compares to the game Vince had in the Rose Bowl?

Too bad the voting for the Heisman was awarded a month before the National Championship game was played. Bush was the best player in the nation during the season, nuff said. Vince won the National Title, but didn't deserve the Heisman.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Wow...this is something else......to bad for Reggie--maybe

 

[DBoys]

Funny that the media suddenly wanted to start the Heisman voting after the NC after VY proved he was the best player in the nation and Bush was a glorified 3rd down back.

The majority of Bush's yards came on the 30 yard TD run and a screen pass...his only real bright was the screen pass that was open because Texas blitzed...which he coughed away. Reggie was a none factor all game long...especially on returns, which he is horrible at...but thanks for leaving those yards out...

It is like saying that Hambrick was excellent because Dallas had a great rushing percentage in the league during the 2003 season. Sure, he had yards, but they were meaningless yards that did not produce points.

Reggie got the Heisman because it is awarded by the media. 70% of voters admit to not following all the finalists and just vote for who SportsCenter says is the best.

I found it very amusing that VY was not in his league before the Rose Bowl, and then afterwards he was the best player in the nation "by far" according to most of the media. Especially when they were calling for the vote to come after the NC game in the future because Young would have won it by a land slide.

Anyway, I will just put he flame suit on now for those who will hate just for the sake of hating.

Bush's coach knew who the money maker was and it was White, not Bush in the Rose Bowl.

If you would have watched Vince last year...or the past 2 years, then you would have seen that he had more than just the Rose Bowl to show for...but go ahead and keep believing that.