This sounds really shady, especially seeing how his family moved out of the $750k home less than 24 hours after being confronted by Yahoo News. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...c5nYcB?slug=cr-bush042306&prov=yhoo&type=lgns Yahoo! Sports report: Reggie Bush's family home By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports April 23, 2006 SPRING VALLEY, Calif. – In this sprawling hilltop community with a breathtaking view of Sweetwater Lake, it was no secret who lived in the 3,000-square-foot house at the corner of Apple Street and Luther Avenue. That home, residents would tell you, was where Reggie Bush's family lived. That is, until this weekend, when the family abruptly packed up and vacated the residence – less than 24 hours after Yahoo! Sports approached Bush's mother about information linking the property to Michael Michaels, a man who is alleged to have tried to play a role in steering Bush toward an agent and who also has ties to a sports marketing company. Days before Bush is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, unanswered questions about the residence and how his mother, stepfather and brother came to live in it within the last year have prompted the University of Southern California to refer the matter to the Pacific-10 Conference for an investigation. NCAA statutes prohibit student-athletes or their families from receiving extra benefits from professional sports agents, marketing companies or their representatives. A breach of these statutes could result in an athlete being ruled ineligible, and games in which they played could be forfeited. ADVERTISEMENT USC finished 12-1 last season, its 35-game winning streak and national championship bid both ending with a loss in the Rose Bowl to Texas. Bush, a junior running back, won the Heisman Trophy and elected to skip his senior season and turn pro in January. In response to reporters' questions about the matter late last week, USC athletic department officials said they would look into it. "Rather than jumping to conclusions, we need to determine the facts before commenting on this report," Trojans athletic director Mike Garrett said in a statement released by the school on Friday. "We have asked the Pac-10 to look into this." State records show the Apple Street home was built in late 2004 and early 2005, then purchased by Michaels on March 29, 2005 for $757,500. Around that time, neighbors say Bush's family moved in. Whether they had visited the house while it was being built is unknown, but there is an inscription in one of the cement slabs in the driveway reading "The Griffins '05." Michaels is the only person who has been listed on the deed to the home. Bush's mother, Denise Griffin, was approached in the driveway of the house on Thursday, but declined to comment. "I have absolutely nothing to say," Griffin said when asked about ownership of the property, which is where Bush's mother, stepfather LaMar and brother Jovan lived during USC's 2005 season. Before moving to the house on Apple Lane, Bush's family was listed as living in an apartment elsewhere in Spring Valley, a community located about 13 miles east of San Diego. At some point after Bush's family moved into the residence, Michaels and an associate named Lloyd Lake are said to have contacted San Diego-based sports agent David Caravantes and offered to facilitate Bush's recruitment. A source with intimate knowledge of the meeting said it took place during the 2005 college football season and that Michaels was looking for a local agent to handle the contract negotiations for players he intended to sign to his marketing firm. Michaels and Lake told Caravantes they were planning to start a sports marketing agency with Bush as their anchor client. It was also during this meeting that Michaels and Lake mentioned the potential name of the agency: New Era Sports & Entertainment. The pitch to Caravantes was said to have been simple: He would be Bush's agent and Michaels' marketing creation would handle the promotion of the USC star. At some point after pitching this idea, Michaels informed Caravantes that Bush's family was living in a home Michaels owned. Caravantes isn't believed to have met with Bush and was never considered to be in the mix before the USC star hired Reebok adviser Mike Ornstein and agent Joel Segal of Worldwide Football Inc. as his representatives. Repeated attempts to reach Segal and Bush were unsuccessful. While it's unclear what official role Michaels played in New Era Sports, indications are that the company barely got off the ground – if at all. According to corporation filings in California, paperwork for New Era Sports & Entertainment was drawn up on Nov. 23, 2005, and records list the business address in Los Angeles under an attorney named Phillip M. Smith Jr. Contacted late last week, Smith Jr. refused to talk about New Era Sports – even declining to give public details such as a phone number for the company, where the New Era offices were located or who was serving as the company's current president or manager. Asked why he wouldn't provide such information, Smith ended the brief telephone conversation, saying, "That's really not an issue that I want to deal with." He has failed to return multiple follow-up messages left at his office. Further attempts to identify New Era produced a single web page with a company logo (http://newerasports.tv/) that contains no active links to indicate where New Era is located, what services are provided or how the company could be contacted. Searches also produced the internet blogs of three self-proclaimed employees of New Era Sports. One such blog included the company logo of New Era and pictures of several NFL players. That blog was taken down shortly after Yahoo! Sports obtained a hard-copy of the page. Contacted about his alleged meeting with Michaels, Caravantes declined to comment. Michaels – who is a member of the Sycuan Indian Tribe and works as a business development officer for the tribe's development corporation – failed to return multiple phone calls and was unavailable when Yahoo! Sports visited his home on three occasions this weekend. The Sycuan tribe, which owns a casino and resort and is engaged in a number of business enterprises in the San Diego area, denied any knowledge of Michaels' relationship with the Bush family. "The tribe is not aware of his involvement," said spokesman Adam Day, who had been approved to speak for the Sycuan's tribal government. "Any involvement that he has in this situation is his personal involvement. It has no connection or correlation to the tribe, its businesses or Mike's employment by the tribal development corporation. "What tribal members do on their own time is their own business. It's not the business of the tribe." Back at the house on Apple Street on Saturday afternoon, the moving trucks had come and gone. A flier offering cleaning services for movers was hung on the front door, and all the shades had been drawn shut. Through a garage window, only a few empty cardboard boxes and straggling trinkets were visible. Across the street, neighbor Grant Sitton could only shrug. "I don't know, I guess it didn't work out," Sitton said. "Oh well. They have a big payday coming next week anyway."
Who gives a ****, he's going to be a pro now. We would be kidding ourselves to think that this stuff doesn't go on all the time with top prospects in the NCAA or even in high school. Lebron had a similar situation, the Fab Five, and bunch of other athletes. That's just the nature of the beast whenever a lot of money is involved. Corporations and agents will find a way to get around the rules no matter what. The NCAA can limit it, but they can't eliminate it. I guess the Reggie Bush haters are desperate...
So you're saying it's OK for Bush and Co., but meanwhile schools like SMU should get the death penalty because there "isn't as much money on the line"? Great logic.
So if it were anyone else as a perpetrator, and the investigation found the family and the player guilty, could the NCAA eliminate the player and the family from further anything? Could the NFL also punish and fine the family and player? What do you think?
If true, it is totally unacceptable. Someone said who cares? I care, and just because a lot of players do it does not mean we should accept it.
EVERYONE does it, you're fooling yourself if you think that this is just a rare occurrence. I'd bet my money that Vince Young, or every single one of the top players have something like that.
storm.. so everyone does it, so we should accept it? and everyone doesn't do it.. there are probably quite a few who do.. But I'm sure there are quite a few first rounders who don't have something like that going on... And I would bash Cutler (someone from my own school). if anything ever came out that he was getting payments etc
Also I am someone who has always been pro drafting bush.. And I'd say you are fooling yourself if you think EVERYONE does it.. there are plenty of players who don't do it.. and the everyone does it thing usually is used to justify the behavior.. so I wouldn't bet that EVERY top player does it
We're talking about an allegation that's potentially serious enough to force USC to forfeit their entire 2005 season, and you chalk it up to "desperate haters"? Wow. I understand and to a large extent agree with your point of view, but it's a big deal to a lot of people and it's not merely because they don't like Reggie Bush.
For the record, I'm a Bush supporter not a Bush hater.. I think it is unfair for people to automatically say .. im sure vince does it, etc.. unfair to group all players in and say everyone does it... (And I couldn't care less about Vince Young considering I am not a fan of Texas or anything.. so I'm not just saying this to prop Vince)
So you can gauge the severity of the issue with Bush, it dwarfs Adrian Peterson's "rental-car" investigation. I'm disgusted. ....as of today VY's family still lives in the Hiram Clark. Not a very posh neighborhood. http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=84461 Oklahoma: Peterson's car deal legit Posted: April 19, 2006 Associated Press NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson did not violate NCAA regulations by buying a car and returning it several weeks later, the school's compliance department has determined. Peterson, the runner-up for the 2004 Heisman Trophy, secured a financing agreement and drove the car for several weeks last winter but then returned it, said Bonita Jackson, Peterson's mother. "We were gonna purchase the car, but the payments were gonna be too high, so we took the car back," Jackson told The Oklahoman, which first reported the story Wednesday. Oklahoma officials determined Peterson did not receive an extra benefit that is not available to the general student body. "Federal law pertaining to students prohibits the discussion of internal reviews in specific terms, but we did initiate a review pertaining to an automobile dealership and its interaction with a student-athlete," Oklahoma associate athletic director Keith Gill said in a statement. "We have pursued the matter in exhaustive fashion over a five-month period. Based on the information we have gathered, we do not believe NCAA rules violations have occurred." The dealership, Big Red Sports and Imports, regularly allowed customers who signed contracts to drive the cars for a period of time before financing had been secured, said Brad McRae, the dealership's part-owner at the time of Peterson's agreement. "We didn't do anything wrong," McRae said. "Is it standard operating business practice? Yes, it's standard operating business practice." Peterson's stepfather said his family is committed to keeping Peterson eligible for football. "This is our child's future," Frankie Jackson said. "We don't want anything to happen to him because of some silly car deal. We're not going to do anything to jeopardize his future." Oklahoma also investigated the employment of football players by the dealership but found no violations.
JEDI.. very interesting... I don't know why anyone would risk being involved in this for a 750k house when they would be making millions in the pros... how nice of a house does 750k even buy you in california?