Reggie Bush: College athletes need guidance if they’re getting paid

If college athletes are going to start making money, their checks should come with a side of “guidance,” according to Reggie Bush.

The former USC star said he wished he had gotten “proper financial knowledge” early in his career, offering a warning for the college athletes who could soon be paid for their name, image and likeness.

“Guidance is the one thing that young athletes coming through the college system miss on so much,” Bush told Playboy. “I missed on it. They’re about to start paying college athletes. This is something that has never been experienced before, and it’s going to destroy some people if their foundation is not in the right place.”

The NCAA announced in April it supported a proposal to allow its athletes to sign endorsement and advertisement deals, as long as their schools are not involved in the payment and their logos are not used. The potential rule change is expected to be ironed out in the coming months with a formal vote set for next January.

Bush, who voluntarily forfeited his 2005 Heisman Trophy after he and his family allegedly received improper benefits from agents while he was at USC, went on to an 11-year career in the NFL. But now looking back on his journey, the current Fox Sports college football analyst knows how much of an “open target” someone in his shoes could be for people to exploit.

“The one thing I wish I had early in my career is proper financial knowledge,” Bush said. “I hired good agents, and I hired a good team. But I allowed that good team to make decisions for me. I’m not saying I’m going bankrupt, but if I had the proper knowledge back then, some things would be different.

“People just assume, ‘Well, you got all this money, so you’re good.’ It’s actually the opposite. The more money you have, the more danger you’re in. Because now you’re a freaking open target for a lot of people. It’s a nasty world out there, and it’s about to get nastier. You’re going to really start to see the true colors of a lot of people, and a lot of businesses too. You’re going to see people doing some crazy stuff to make money, because our market is crashing.”