The Ohio State football program should get their 2010 wins restored
Now that Reggie Bush is getting his Heisman Trophy back, the Ohio State football program needs to get their wins back.
By Ryan Stano
Perhaps the most ridiculous scandal in College Football history is Tattoogate. For those who don't remember what that is, the Ohio State football program had to vacate all of their wins in the 2010 season due to five players selling their gold pants for tattoos.
Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, Solomon Thomas, and Mike Brewster were known as the "Tattoo Five". Only Posey would ever play for Ohio State again after the sanctions came down. Jim Tressel was given a five-year show-cause for Tattoogate, effectively ending his coaching career.
It was ridiculous in the moment. Players sold their own property in order to buy things that they wanted. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's even more ridiculous now in the era of NIL and players getting six-figure checks just for committing to a program. It's not like they cheated during games or anything like that.
With Reggie Bush now getting his Heisman back. it's time the NCAA restored Ohio State's wins from that period. We all know that they happened. We watched it happen. But the hypocrisy can't be allowed to continue to stand. Bush getting his Heisman was for a more serious offense of actually taking money from a booster.
Ohio State football players just sold their own property. That's not a crime, nor should it result in sanctions for the program. In five or ten years, the NCAA might not exist anyway. If they want to survive, they should try to get into the good graces of one of the most powerful programs in the country.
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Even more than that, it's just right for them to restore the wins. It's time that Ohio State football fans can stop vilifying the players for what they did. Despite the disassociation period being over for Pryor and the university, he still distances himself. This would help with that.