The Heisman Trophy Trust said Wednesday that it would return Reggie Bush's trophy after the award was taken away 14 years ago because the USC running back received improper benefits during his time in college.
Due to changes in the student compensation landscape and the introduction of "Name, Image and Likeness," which allows athletes to be financially compensated while in school, the Heisman Trust was pressured in recent years to return the award.
"We considered the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years in deciding that now is the right time to reinstate the trophy for Reggie," Michael Comerford, president of the Heisman Trust, said in a statement. "We are so happy to welcome him back."
Upon the award's return, Bush can't really sell his trophy. Since 1999, all Heisman winners have signed a contract saying, if they chose to sell the trophy, they would have to offer it to the Heisman Trust for $1.
But what if the 2005 winner could sell it. How much would it be worth?
"If the Reggie Bush Heisman came to auction, there would be a very good chance it would set the record for the most expensive Heisman ever sold," said Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions for Heritage. The auction house brokered the most expensive Heisman sale on record in 2019, when Ricky Williams' 1998 trophy went for $504,000.
Ivy attributed the bump over Williams' trophy due, in part, to the "increased interest in sports collectibles over the past five years."
David Kohler's SCP Auctions has sold two Heisman trophies: former Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam's 1994 trophy for $399,608 in 2018 and Bruce Smith's 1941 trophy for $376,818 in 2020.
Kohler said, in the hypothetical situation where Bush could sell it, he think it would be in the range of Williams' trophy.
Kohler, who is based in California, surmised Bush "isn't as beloved as he once was."
A Heisman Trophy has been sold eight times. Aside from the trophies of Williams, Salaam and Smith, O.J. Simpson's 1968 trophy was sold in 1999 for $255,000 and later in 2018 for an undisclosed sum in a private sale. Tim Brown's 1987 trophy sold at Goldin in 2018 for $435,763, and Clint Frank's 1937 trophy sold for $312,000 at Heritage in 2018. A copy of Paul Hornung's 1956 trophy sold in a combined Goldin/Sotheby's auction in 2020 for $378,000.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectible market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.