Pete Thamel: Johnny Manziel 'made a difference' in Reggie Bush Heisman Trophy reinstatement

The Heisman Trust moved to give Reggie Bush his 2005 Heisman Trophy back on Wednesday, and Bush can thank one man for having an outsized impact on that outcome: former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.

The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner has long been vocal about Bush and his stripped Heisman, thinking Bush’s accomplishments still very much existed despite his trophy being revoked.

And apparently that was enough to sway the Heisman Trust, along with input from other previous winners.

“I do think Johnny Manziel’s public plea made a difference,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said on the Pat McAfee Show. “The Heisman is an age-old institution that’s sensitive to criticism, and when one of their own came out that strongly I think that mattered.”

Bush’s accolades stand for themselves.

He was a two-time consensus All-American, a two-time Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, a Doak Walker Award winner, a Walter Camp Award winner, the 2005 AP College Football Player of the Year and the 2005 Sporting News Player of the Year.

Bush logged 3,169 yards rushing, 1,301 yards receiving, 1,522 yards on kick returns and 559 yards on punt returns. He scored 42 touchdowns, doing so rushing, receiving, on a kick return and on punt returns.

Still, the extra push from Johnny Manziel didn’t hurt when reinstatement was on the table. Manziel wasn’t the only former star in Bush’s corner.

“Coley Harvey reported today that there was a bunch of Heisman members who were together, Tim Tebow was among them, there was a couple familiar names there,” Thamel said. “And they got together as part of this decision to bring Reggie back. So Reggie walked into a room today, to about 15 Heisman members, and they all greeted him down in Florida at an event. So it was a pretty special moment for Reggie to get reintroduced to that club. Now we’re all waiting the Heisman House commercials where he does the Undertaker and rolls back in.”

So how exactly did the reinstatement come to be? Well, it wasn’t a fast process.

“I think momentum shifted two years ago. As you know, nothing happens quickly in college sports,” Thamel said. “It’s pretty unprecedented, right, what happened. It’s not like they have a committee that handles this. But what I think is the Heisman’s very sensitive to bad publicity. And Johnny Manziel got a lot of attention for what he said. I think they consulted with a bunch of Heisman winners, but again, there’s no precedent for this so I don’t think they have a subcommittee on reinstatement.”