Reggie Bush has had his Heisman trophy, his jersey and all of his murals removed from Heritage Hall, and he is dangerously close to having his personal Heisman stripped by the Heisman Trophy Trust as well.

Bush is under siege lately and for good reason.

He accepted financial benefits that fell somewhere in the low- to mid- six figures, according to Yahoo! Sports, and then refused to 'fess up to it in time, forcing the USC athletic department to face the music alone and join the growing list of NCAA Division I schools on probation.

Evidence from the NCAA investigation established that Lloyd Lake and Michael Michaels, two aspiring agents who founded New Era Sports & Entertainment solely for the purpose of representing and profiting off of Reggie Bush, provided a bevy of financial benefits to Bush and his family while Bush was at USC. Both men have settled with Bush out of court, ensuring that he is guilty only in the court of public opinion.

Rumor has it that Bush had a strong distaste for Lake, the man who ended up cooperating with the NCAA investigation. It appears that Bush’s naivete (referenced here by former RB coach and fellow outcast Todd McNair) led him to believe he could pull a savage burn on Lake by refusing to pay him back. Obviously, it didn't turn out that way.

Bush's greed, cowardice and lack of regard for the program that provided the stage for his career to flourish are all quite disturbing. But there are two questions lost in all of this: 1) Other than not 'fessing up right away, would any of us have done anything differently than Bush, and 2) did we all just ignore the warning signs when it came to his actions?

Would any of us have done anything differently? is a loaded question for most of the student body at USC.

Many students at USC have no idea what it means to "do without." Including tuition, housing and other expenses, a year there runs about $60,000-80,000. Most students’ families foot that bill and are glad to do it.

But what about families that cannot pay that much for their son or daughter to go to USC? What about families that don’t even make that much in a year? Would they turn down the “comp life” if it were offered to them?

Bush and his family sure didn't, but Bush was far from the typical USC student.

When Bush was born, his father was 20 years old and his mom was just 19. They split a few months into the pregnancy, leaving the job of raising little Reginald solely to his mother, Denise.

She worked less than glamorous jobs with less than desirable hours at the Humane Society, then as a corrections officer in San Diego. In an interview in 2005, Denise alluded to their dire financial situation, saying, “Reggie remembers when we didn’t have a lot of money…He didn’t have a lot of clothes." In fact, Denise held Reggie out of Pop Warner football until he was 9 because he was “too skinny." 

In a statement made in 2006, Bush’s confidant and marketing agent at the time, Mike Ornstein, defended actions including paying for the Bush family’s travel expenses to an away game at Cal, stating that he didn’t believe Bush’s parents “have a credit card." He insisted that the family paid him back. Whether true or not, that statement paints a clear picture of the Bush family’s financial situation relative to the financial situation of most USC students. 

As far as ignoring the warning signs, they were right there in front of everyone.

While at USC, the NCAA investigation stated that Bush's family had their expenses paid when attending away games at Cal, bowl games in Florida and the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, all while living in a home that didn't belong to them and didn't cost them a dime. 

And what about the stunning suit and the humongous diamond studs in his ears at the awards ceremony? (Student-athlete extraordinare Vince Young was wearing a similarly stunning suit/diamond earring combo.)

Did we all assume it was a rented suit accented with cubic zirconia earrings? 

It's possible that everyone believed he took out a loan based on future earnings with a reputable bank (assuming those still exist), which is allowed by NCAA rules. But really, why would he do that when he could get an interest free loan from an independent party?

Oh yeah, because that's not allowed by NCAA rules and all NCAA rules are just and have the student athlete's best interests at heart.

When Bush came to USC, he was surrounded by people who had the best in life and were more than willing to share with him. He was a big fish in a huge pond and there were many aspiring agents/businessmen from San Diego to L.A. ready to throw money at him. With the way the NCAA and Division I universities do business, Bush probably thought this was just the way things worked.

With the number of Division I schools currently on probation, who could blame him? The system is set up for him to do what he did.

In the end, all Bush did was max out the situation and pay back as little as possible. That makes him a businessman (which is the new model for athletes in modern day sports), not public enemy No. 1.

Rather than hating the player, everyone should be hating the game.

To reach reporter Ryan Nunez, click here.

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