Fans Vote Reggie Bush Their Favorite Athlete in USC History
Aubrey Kragen
7/8/2020
We asked our Instagram followers to tell us their favorite USC athlete of all time.
After tallying more than 1,300 votes, here are the Top 10!
1. Reggie Bush
Bush, the electric running back who played at USC from 2003-05, came out on top of the voting by a landslide.
During his USC career, the San Diego native amassed 3,169 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns, plus 1,301 receiving yards and 13 receiving touchdowns. He returned 67 kickoffs for 1,523 yards with a touchdown and 44 punts for 559 yards with 3 touchdowns.
Bush helped the Trojans win 34 straight games (14 of which were later vacated due to NCAA penalty) and back-to-back national titles in 2003 and 2004.
Bush won the Heisman in 2005, but was forced to forfeit the trophy in 2010. He was also twice named an All-American.
Earlier this year, ESPN dubbed Bush the sixth-best college football player of all time.
USC's 10-year disassociation from Bush which was mandated by the NCAA ended on June 10, 2020. The Trojan Family is clearly thrilled to welcome Bush back to campus.
2. Troy Polamalu
Legendary safety Troy Polamalu picked up the second-most votes of any Trojan.
The soft-spoken hard hitter played at USC from 1999-2002. During that time, he recorded 281 tackles and 6 interceptions.
Polamalu was a two-time All-American, a two-time team captain and a Jim Thorpe Award finalist. He was also named USC's MVP in 2001 and Most Inspirational Player in 2002.
The Tenmile, Ore. native is a member of the Pac-12 All-Century Team, the USC Athletics Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
3. JuJu Smith-Schuster
Wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster captured Trojan fans' hearts by giving his all on the field and being tons of fun off of it.
The Long Beach, Calif. native hauled in 213 catches for 3,092 yards and 25 touchdowns during his three seasons at USC (2014-16). He earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors as a sophomore and helped lead USC to a Rose Bowl victory as a junior.
After a stellar USC career, Smith-Schuster was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
He burst onto the scene, becoming the youngest player to ever reach 2,500 career receiving yards in the NFL and the first NFL player to have two offensive touchdowns of at least 97 yards.
4. Marcus Allen
Allen is one of the most prolific running backs in college football history.
During his USC career (1978-81), the San Diego product carried the ball 932 times for a total of 4,810 yards (second in USC history) and 45 touchdowns (third in USC history). He helped USC win the national title in 1979.
In 1981, he became the first player in college football to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He ended up with 2,427 — a USC single-season record. He won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp Award that year.
Allen was selected in the first round of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Raiders. He played in Super Bowl XVIII and earned MVP honors.
He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and his No. 33 jersey is retired by USC.
5. Michael Pittman Jr.
Pittman is the most current Trojan on our list, having just completed an impressive four-year run at USC.
The wideout collected 171 catches, 2,519 yards and 19 touchdowns during his career.
As a senior in 2019, he was a team captain and earned MVP honors. He was also named a Biletnikoff Award finalist, a Witten Award finalist, a Pac-12 first teamer and the winner of the Pop Warner College Football Award and USC's Community Service Award.
Pittman won the hearts of Trojan fans by constantly giving back to the community, including speaking to local schoolchildren about the importance of reading and how it helped him overcome his stutter. He also went out of his way to connect with young football fans.
Pittman is headed off to Indianapolis after being selected by the Colts in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
6. Adoree' Jackson
Jackson was the most electrifying football player at USC since Reggie Bush.
He did it all during his USC career, posting 139 tackles, 29 deflections and 6 interceptions (one pick-six) while also scoring 8 touchdowns as a punt and kick returner (including a school record-tying pair of 100-yard kick runbacks) and scoring 6 touchdowns as a wideout.
In 2016, Jackson became the second player in USC history to win the Thorpe Award. He was also named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the year and a consensus All-American.
And he did it all with a smile.
7. Carson Palmer
USC has a long history of prolific quarterbacks, but this Orange County, Calif. native was the first Trojan QB to win the Heisman Trophy.
Palmer came to USC as a freshman in 1998 and started the second half of the season. In 1999, he was forced to redshirt due to injury, but came back and led the Trojans from 2000-02. During his career, he set or tied 33 Pac-10 and USC total offense and passing records, including becoming the league's career leader in total offense and passing yards. He now ranks second in USC history those two categories.
Palmer won the Heisman his senior year by throwing for 3,942 yards and 33 touchdowns.
After his record-setting USC career, Palmer was the first pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. During his 15-year NFL career, he made the Pro Bowl three times.
8. Sam Darnold
Darnold, yet another SoCal signal caller, gave USC some of its best moments of the last decade.
Darnold redshirted in 2015 before being inserted into the starting lineup a few games into the 2016 season. He lost the first start of his career, but then rattled off nine straight wins, including an upset at then-unbeaten Washington and a legendary Rose Bowl victory over Penn State. In that game, Darnold set Rose Bowl records for total offense (473 yards) and passing touchdowns (5), and the team set a Rose Bowl comeback record by overcoming a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 52-49. Darnold earned Freshman All-American honors for his breakout season.
In 2017, Darnold set the USC single-season record for passing yards and total offense and led USC to the Pac-12 title and a spot in the Cotton Bowl.
Darnold, who charmed Trojan fans with his “drive it like you stole it” playing style and unflappable demeanor, was selected third overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft.
9. Matt Leinart
Leinart is the third straight SoCal QB on the fans' list.
Leinart completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 10,693 yards and 99 touchdowns during his 3 seasons as USC's starting quarterback (2003-05), guiding the Trojans to a 37-2 record in that span. He led USC to the 2003 and 2004 national titles and played for the crown in 2005. He was MVP of the 2004 Rose Bowl and 2005 Orange Bowl as the Trojans defeated Michigan and Oklahoma, respectively.
Leinart was a three-time All-American first teamer, two-time Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and won the Heisman in 2004, becoming the sixth Trojan to take home the prestigious trophy.
In his career, he set 16 USC records, 11 Pac-10 records (including career completion percentage and TD passes) and two NCAA marks.
Leinart played in the NFL for seven seasons and is now a college football analyst for FOX Sports. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
10. Junior Seau
Seau may be No. 10 on this list, but he will go down in USC history as No. 55.
Seau came to USC from Oceanside, Calif. in 1987, but sat out his freshman year. He struggled through injuries his sophomore season before bursting onto the scene as a junior in 1989, and making the No. 55 famous.
That year, the Polynesian legend totaled 19 sacks and 27 tackles for loss en route to All-American honors. He was named the 1989 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. He also helped USC win two Pac-10 titles and play in back-to-back Rose Bowls.
Seau continued his legacy with a 20-year NFL career — spent mostly with his hometown San Diego Chargers — that included 12 Pro Bowls and earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Beloved Seau tragically passed away on May 2, 2012, at the age of 43.
