The former Heisman trophy running back recently gave an interview to Playboy Magazine (link is slightly NSFW) in which he discussed a variety of topics, including the recent trend of the NCAA allowing players to profit off their names and likeness.
Bush was asked whether he’d be interested in coaching and says that’s not a job for him. Instead, he wants to help guide players. During his answer, he touched on the subject of players making money.
From Playboy:
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His last quote provided a juicy soundbite when he said, “it’s going to destroy some people.” So ESPN took the quotes and aggregated it into its own story. It’s a common practice you’ll see not only on every sports site, but every single news site on the internet.
But that didn’t stop Bush from voicing his complaints on Twitter.
Bush claiming, “I did not speak to you, I never gave you approval to write this story” is a really strange response. Saying ESPN can’t write about him simply because he didn’t talk to them is just wrong.
Websites constantly write about quotes athletes give to other publications. Considering Bush has dealt with the media his entire career, and is now currently a member of the media as an analyst for Fox Sports means he should know better.
His second criticism is a little more fair, but it still doesn’t make sense. Bush claims this is “not what I said,” but the article directly quotes him from the Playboy interview. It is what he said. If it’s not what he said, then he has an issue with Playboy, not ESPN.
Bush’s quotes eventually made their way to ESPN’s “SportsCenter” broadcast, where analysts discussed them. And at the end of the segment, ESPN released a statement through an anchor claiming the network was trying to reach out to him for clarification.
However, it’s not clear whether ESPN will be able to contact Bush. The former running back tweeted out, “My contract is with [Fox Sports] I can’t even talk to ESPN.”
