NEW YORK | There will be no 2005 Heisman winner now that Reggie Bush has returned the award from that year.
The head of the Heisman Trophy Trust said Wednesday the award will be vacated.
“We’ve determined that there will be no winner,” William Dockery said in an interview with ESPN.
Bush announced Tuesday he would forfeit the trophy he won with Southern California. In June, the NCAA ruled him ineligible for that season for receiving improper benefits.
The Heisman Trophy Trust requires players to be in good standing with the NCAA to be eligible for college football’s highest honor.
Former Texas quarterback Vince Young finished a distant second to Bush in the voting that year and there was speculation he might be awarded the Heisman if it were taken from Bush.
But before Dockery could say it would stay vacant, the Tennessee Titans’ quarterback told reporters in Nashville, Tenn.: “I would not want to have it, and don’t want the trophy. Like I said, 2005 Reggie Bush is the Heisman Trophy winner. Why would I want it?”
Dockery said Bush, now with the New Orleans Saints, was in New York last week to meet with some of the eight members of the trust. He did not disclose what was discussed in that meeting, but did say Bush was not given any notice of whether the trust intended to strip him of the award.
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AP Sports Writer Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.
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