During Big Ten Media Days, some of the top players in the conference took the stage to speak with the press and preview their upcoming 2025 seasons. CBS Sports added a fun twist by showing the players a photo of Reggie Bush and asking if they could name the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner.
The results quickly went viral, as college football fans were shocked to learn that many of today’s players didn’t recognize one of the most iconic college football stars of the 2000s.
Fans React as Big Ten Players Fail to Recognize Reggie Bush
Want to feel old? Watch this video of current Big Ten players trying to name legendary USC RB Reggie Bush, one of the greatest college football players of all time, and the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner.
Kids these days don’t even know who Reggie Bush is pic.twitter.com/Gww1TvfDsi
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) July 25, 2025
The answers were rough, with Wisconsin center Jake Renfro even mistaking Reggie Bush for NBA legend LeBron James.
The video quickly went viral, as many couldn’t believe that today’s college football players are too young to recognize Reggie Bush. Most fans were disappointed that Reggie Bush was unrecognizable to these Big Ten players, with one even saying it deeply hurt him.
This hurts my soul
— Biscuits & SEC (@biscuitsandsec) July 25, 2025
“This hurts my soul,” the user wrote.
Another fan shared the same sentiment, calling it criminal that the players didn’t know who Reggie Bush is.
This is criminal
— Cruz Oxenreider (@TheRealCruzOx) July 25, 2025
“This is criminal,” he said.
Similarly, one person noted that the new generation of athletes didn’t grow up watching and following sports the way previous generations did.
Kids today don’t grow up watching sports like we did. This is sad lol
— Houston Daniel (@_CoachDaniel) July 25, 2025
“Kids today don’t grow up watching sports like we did. This is sad lol,” they posted on X.
Another fan felt the same and couldn’t believe that Renfro actually thought Bush was the NBA legend.
“that looks like lebron james” is insane. Big Ten!
— Joseph Manero🇻🇦 (@JosephManero) July 25, 2025
“‘That looks like LeBron James’ is insane. Big Ten!” the fan said.
One person even noted that the image shown to the players included Bush’s name on the Heisman trophy, making it surprising that they still couldn’t identify him.
It literally says on the trophy, and they still couldn’t figure it out
— Bruh (@BruhhNOWAYY) July 25, 2025
“It literally says on the trophy, and they still couldn’t figure it out,” he posted on X.
While fans’ frustration is understandable, it’s important to remember that college seniors are usually around 21 years old, meaning most were born in 2004.
Since Bush won the Heisman in 2005, these players were at most toddlers when he earned the award. This doesn’t excuse their lack of football knowledge but provides some context for their surprising answers.
