Kirk Herbstreit says Reggie Bush was ‘baddest’ college football player he’s covered

Kirk Herbstreit’s praise of Reggie Bush from his USC days is incredible.

Kirk Herbstreit saw what we all saw when Reggie Bush played for the USC Trojans.

There have been plenty of amazing college football players over the years, but it’s hard to explain to those who didn’t watch Bush star for USC what he was like. The guy could do everything on the football field. You put the ball in his hands and incredible stuff would surely follow. While he was ahead of his time in the NFL, Bush was perfect for college football in the mid-2000s.

Bush was one of the seminal figures of the Pete Carroll USC dynasty going on 20 years ago. He and teammate quarterback Matt Leinart took home the Heisman Trophy in back-to-back years in 2004 and 2005. USC won a pair of national titles in 2003 and 2004, but fell on hard times in the wake of Bush receiving improper benefits as an upperclassmen in 2004 and 2005.

This led to USC disassociating from Bush beginning on June 10, 2010 and he had to vacate his Heisman Trophy, the only time the award has ever been given up by a recipient. But with USC’s disassociation coming to an end as soon as today, Bush will be welcome back into his alma mater’s arms.

Herbstreit quote tweeted his ESPN colleague Adam Schefter on the news of USC’s disassociation of Bush coming to an end with an endearing comment. “Glad to hear. To this day the baddest CFB player I’ve ever covered. ReggieBush happy for you and your family.”

Kirk Herbstreit cites Reggie Bush as the best player he’s ever covered.

Even though Bush and Herbstreit do a lot of the same things these days for rival television networks, as Bush is part of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, while Herbstreit largely defines ESPN’s College GameDay, there is no denying how awesome of a player Bush was during his time at college for USC. We haven’t had a player quite like him since, nor may we ever.

Since 2000, only three running backs have taken home the Heisman Trophy. Bush did it in 2005 and a pair of Alabama Crimson Tide running backs in Mark Ingram Jr. and Derrick Henry did it in 2009 and in 2015, respectively. To pull this off in an era of college football where the best quarterback usually ends up winning the trophy, it’s even more impressive.

Even though Bush had to vacate his Heisman, he’s suffered enough shame and ridicule for something he did in his early 20s over 15 years ago. Let’s hope the USC disassociation is the first step in the right direction towards getting Bush his Heisman Trophy back. College football is undoubtedly better with him as an ambassador for the sport. He was “the baddest” after all.

You cannot tell the story of college football without mentioning Bush and the Carroll USC dynasty.

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