This one is gonna blow up big! Unless somehow, someway Reggie Bush and his family can come up with a reasonable explanation. But seeing they have RUN from the house, it appears this is not good.
Yahoo! Sports report: Reggie Bush’s family home
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.
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.
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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.”
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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.
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The Pac-10 plans to investigate, after a request to do so from the University of Southern California.
Residence of Bush’s parents to be probed
LOS ANGELES — The Pac-10 said Sunday it will investigate the reported connection between a home where Reggie Bush’s family lived and a man who sought to market the Southern California star tailback.
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State records showed construction was completed on the home in early 2005 and Michaels purchased it for $757,500 in late March, Yahoo reported.
Neighbors told Yahoo that Bush’s mother Denise Griffin, stepfather LaMar Griffin and brother Jovan Griffin moved into the home shortly after that.
NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes and their families from receiving extra benefits from agents or their representatives.
Bush eventually signed with a different agent and marketing firm.
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Basically this might end up hurting USC and players still there, more than it might ever hurt Reggie Bush. The school might have to forfeit games and face other discipline. While Reggie Bush goes pro and gets a nice fat contract. Unless the NFL decides to take some sort of action. If what appears to be true, really is the sad truth. That Reggie Bush broke the rules and took a very big gift from a man who was basically working like an agent. If this all ends up being true, I think the NFL should take some kind of disciplinary action. If they don’t it will only encourage more of this.
Yea people are saying wait until there are more facts available, but at this point it’s hard to see how this is anything but a clear case of breaking the rules.
And no I do not think that college athletes should be paid, regardless of how much money they make for the school. They are students and so they play for the school and their reward is a free education. If they have a problem with that, then they should go play in NFL Europe or the Canadian Football League.
update 4/24/2006 11:11AM: Blog Moonage Webdream has an even better idea than the NFL taking any action at all.
Reggie Bush’s mansion
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IF Bush is found to have intentionally violated NCAA rules ( and he OBVIOUSLY has ) and then bailed out on his team, I would recommend his teammates sue him for everything he gets from going pro.
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That makes good sense. Although I said I want the NFL to do something, it was only because I could not think of another way for Reggie Bush to pay a price for doing wrong. I was concerned about the NFL getting involved in NCAA affairs though. If Reggie Bush is sued by USC and/or the players, that would be better. It keeps the NFL out of NCAA affairs and the affected parties can go after the one that messed things up for them. If Reggie Bush was still playing college ball, then the school could handle this internally, but given he’s left, a lawsuit is the only way to ensure he does not get away clean.
April 24th, 2006 at 12:40 am
I wouldn’t weep too many tears if USC got a little sanctions slap. I’ve always thought they were more pretenders than contenders. Let them work their way through an SEC season and they look more like Vanderbilt. Well, maybe that’s too harsh. They’d look more like Kentucky. I doubt if the western USC (Southern Cal) could even beat the southern USC (South Carolina).
April 24th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Reggie Bush’s mansion
Here we go again:The Pacific 10 Conference is investigating the living arrangements of Reggie Bush’s family last season to see whether there were violations of NCAA rules, conference officials confirmed Sunday….. The story said Bush’s family abrupt…
April 25th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Reggie Bush Say There Was No Deal, That He Knows Of!
Your folks move from an apartment east of San Diego, into a home with a view of Sweetwater Lake. You’re a college football player and you figure it all is legit. Hmmmmm…
Then when the media ask questions your family runs from the hous…