Okay, so they took Reggie’s trophy. According to Yahoo Sports the Heisman trust will strip Reggie Bush of his 2005 Heisman award. The Heisman Trophy is given to the best college football player each year. In its 75 year history it has never been taken back from a player. Hmm… I find that interesting.
So am I to believe that Reggie Bush is the only player in 75 years to ever cheat and win the award? Probably not. And did the money that he received give him an un-fair advantage on the playing field? Probably not. You have to understand something, I am a huge USC Trojan football fan. I believe that you can investigate every college sports program and find something that would disqualify them. I mean everyone does it, everyone in college sports cuts corners or takes a little side money.
Think about this, these students are between the ages of 18-22, with enormous amounts of talent. From the time they ever started playing sports they’ve been treated differently, they’ve been allotted certain privileges that not everyone gets. So what do we except them to do. The colleges are making millions because of these athletes and the athletes in some cases can barely afford to eat on a weekly basis. Now I know that the student gets an education worth thousands of dollars. It’s not like they receive nothing in return for their performance. I get all that.
But the truth is this; “Cheating never pays”. Just because everyone else is doing it is no reason for us to do it.
You see, the world will always teach to “look out for number one”. But as a follower of Jesus Christ I am taught to;
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Philippians 2:3-5
Our attitudes should be the same as Jesus. Jesus left perfection to come down and show us how to live. And knowing how painful it would be he still gave his life for you and for me. Wow. How amazing is that?
I know that everyone doesn’t believe that. But for those of us who do, we can’t allow the world to determine our actions. We have got to stand firm on the Word and the principles of God.
You see what Reggie Bush did was hurt an entire nation of fans, teammates and peers, all because he was looking at himself and not considering others. And sure you can say that he was trying to help his family, but his big payday was coming, his family was going to be alright.
All together it’s a sad day for sports, hopefully we’ve learned;
Cheating never pays!