Reggie Bush forfeits 2005 Heisman Trophy
METARIE, La., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Former University of Southern California running back Reggie Bush said Tuesday he has forfeited his title as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner.
Bush, who plays for the New Orleans Saints, said in a statement issued through the team he is bowing to pressure from a four-year NCAA investigation that saw USC hit with heavy penalties, in making his decision to relinquish college football's top individual award.
Bush was found by NCAA investigators to have taken improper gifts from a sports agent.
Citing the sacrifices made by his USC teammates that made his winning of the Heisman possible, Bush said, "It is for these reasons that I have made the difficult decision to forfeit my title as Heisman winner of 2005."
He added: "The persistent media speculation regarding allegations dating back to my years at USC has been both painful and distracting. In no way should the storm around these allegations reflect in any way on the dignity of this award, nor on any other institutions or individuals."
USC was sanctioned by the NCAA for violations in its football program, including a two-year bowl ban, a reduction of scholarships and a forfeiture of victories, including its national championship game win over Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl.
NFL probing Jets on harassment claim
NEW YORK, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- New York Jets personnel talked to NFL officials investigating the alleged harassment of a female TV reporter, Coach Rex Ryan said Tuesday.
Ryan said NFL officials were at the Jets' Florham Park practice facility looking into the weekend incident in which Mexican television reporter Ines Sainz said she was subjected to catcalls and boorish behavior by Jets players, the New York Daily News reported.
Ryan told reporters he had volunteered to talk to league officials.
"We want to have an environment here where everybody's comfortable," Ryan said. "I don't know all the specifics of what's going on. The NFL is here today. They're here investigating. We're open. Whoever the NFL wants to talk to – I'm not sure who it is – but we'll let that play out. We're here to cooperate."
The newspaper said Sainz was subjected to whistling and ogling while in the Jets' locker room awaiting an interview with quarterback Mark Sanchez.
She said Monday she never felt "threatened" by the behavior.
Broncos obtain Maroney from Patriots
DENVER, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The Denver Broncos obtained running back Laurence Maroney and a draft pick from the New England Patriots Tuesday, giving up a higher draft pick.
The Broncos will surrender a fourth-round 2011 draft pick in exchange for Maroney, while the Pats also gave up a sixth-round draft choice next season, The Denver Post reported.
Maroney, a first-round New England draft pick out of Minnesota, gained 757 yards and scored nine touchdowns last season for the Patriots, but was inactive for Sunday's season-opening 38-24 win over Cincinnati.
Maroney has racked up 2,430 yards with 21 rushing TDs on 582 carries in his four-year career with New England, adding 40 receptions for 409 yards and one score in 45 career games.
Attorney: Adenhart's death not murder
SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The man whose minivan crashed into a car carrying Nick Adenhart, killing the Los Angeles Angels pitcher, didn't commit murder, the man's lawyer said Tuesday.
Defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman, making opening statements in the Santa Ana, Calif., trial of 22-year-old Andrew Thomas Gallo, told jurors that while Gallo did indeed cause the deaths of Adenhart and two others in the April 2009 crash, the incident didn't constitute murder, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"He did it, and he has to live with that for the rest of his life," Goodman said. "But Andrew Gallo is not a murderer."
Orange County prosecutors have charged Gallo with three murder counts in the deaths of Adenhart, 22, Courtney Stewart, 20, and Henry Pearson, 25, in the accident, in which Gallo was charged with being drunk and running a red light.
A fourth car passenger, Jon Wilhite, 25, was critically injured.
"What happened on that night, when all those kids met in that intersection … was something that captured the heart of Orange County," the Times reported Goodman as saying. But, she added, "we don't have a murder."
