Bush and Leinart Push Each Other Into Greatness

NEW YORK —  Reggie Bush won, but it was Matt Leinart who pumped his left fist.

Reggie Bush won, but it was Matt Leinart who reached out for the first hug.

The USC running back won, but, as his lingering embrace with the USC quarterback illustrated, we all won, witnessing young men who did not personify the word “Heisman” as much as they defined the word “teammate.”

Reggie Bush, who accepted the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football Saturday, nearly wept while delivering his acceptance speech.

Matt Leinart, who won the award last year, nearly wept when that speech included his name.

Bush thanked Leinart for changing his life.

Leinart helped change it by voting Bush first and not even putting his own name on his ballot.

Said Bush, who won by the largest percentage in history: “In many ways, Matt gave me the chance to win this thing.”

Said Leinart, who finished third: “We have a special bond that nobody can take away.”

Take a close look. Have a good listen. Do you know how rare this is?

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t do it. Jeff Kent and Milton Bradley couldn’t do it.

On a chilly night at the Nokia Theatre, two kids showed us how they do it.

Two stars, one team. Two egos, one goal.

Two Heismans, and not one pose.

Said Bush: “That’s the thing about this team, everyone puts their ego aside, everybody’s humble.”

Said Leinart: “It’s not about me. It’s never been about me.”

In some ways, they couldn’t be more different.

Bush is urban, Leinart is O.C. Bush rages, Leinart yawns.

Bush showed up Saturday night dressed in three-piece and pinstripes, while Leinart didn’t even button the top of his shirt beneath his tie.

Yet in a consecutive-national-championship sort of way, they will go down together in Trojan history like cardinal and gold, like fight and on.

“It’s been a great combination, a great obviously all-time 1-2 punch with the quarterback and running back,” Coach Pete Carroll told reporters in a telephone interview Saturday. “I think the best part is how much regard and respect they have for one another.”

The best part, and surely the hardest part.

This was only the second time in history that a Heisman Trophy winner shared a backfield with a teammate who finished in the top three in the same year.

The other time, it was Army running backs Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis finishing first and second in 1945.

That was West Point, this is Hollywood. Those chests were adorned with medals, today’s chests are pounded by fists.

With college football’s two best players sharing the same couple of yards of Coliseum real estate, so much could have happened, and so much of it could have been ugly.

By turning down millions to return for his senior season, Leinart could have expected the sort of treatment that would have allowed him to become only the second player in history to win his second consecutive Heisman.

But after working so hard this summer that he admittedly vomited during drills, returning fifth-place Heisman finisher Bush could have also expected the same sort of star push.

Who would demand the ball? Who would push for the interviews? Who would be on the cover of the media guide?

In answer to that last question, in a smart move approved by Pete Carroll, that cover was shared by both.

It may have been the first time a defending Heisman Trophy winner didn’t have his own stage to himself. Leinart set the tone by saying it didn’t matter.

Said Leinart: “That’s not why I came back, I came back to win.”

Said Leinart’s father, Bob: “The way he handled himself this year, I’m more proud of him than ever.”

In the sort of team atmosphere fostered by Carroll, both players had been watching each other’s back for several seasons.

In Bush’s freshman year, in his third game, it was Leinart who leveled a Hawaii defender with a block, springing him for a 28-yard gain in his first impact carry. Last season in the opener against Virginia Tech, Bush was there to launch the quarterback’s Heisman campaign, turning five mostly short passes into 127 yards and three touchdowns.

“We’ve been there for each other for three years,” said Leinart. “I love the guy, and I know he feels that way about me.”

At the end of last season, while the rest of the country was voting for Leinart for the Heisman, Leinart was voting for Bush for team MVP.

This season, when it became clear from the opening win at Hawaii that the offense would revolve around Bush, Leinart continued to offer his support and advice.

“He would sit me down and tell me what to expect, how to handle the Heisman interviews and all that,” said Bush.

When Bush was miffed at a midseason slowdown, Leinart calmed him down. When Bush occasionally struggled to break returns, Leinart reminded him of his greatness.

“It seemed like, whenever I struggled, Matt was there to pick me up, carry the team,” said Bush. “Whenever I needed him, he was there.”

In return, in a Notre Dame game that cemented Bush’s Heisman candidacy, Bush cemented Leinart’s legacy by pushing him over the goal line for the winning touchdown.

“My favorite play this season,” Bush said, smiling.

It was a play that typified an era, two of perhaps the greatest players in college football history, clutching each other, leaning on each other, willing each other to a victory shared by all.

Their two Heismans are cool.

Their single, enduring lesson is greater.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.