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Podcasts Take Two
Debate rages: Should USC remove OJ's Heisman from Heritage Hall?
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Mar 2, 2016
Listen • 5:50
Debate rages: Should USC remove OJ's Heisman from Heritage Hall?
A column in the Daily Trojan says the trophy has no place in the hall — and that has stirred up controversy at the school.
In this photo dated Sept. 16, 1987, O. J. Simpson talks to Trojan football players about desire, dedication and talent.
In this photo dated Sept. 16, 1987, O. J. Simpson talks to Trojan football players about desire, dedication and talent.
(
Herald-Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
)

A column in the Daily Trojan says the trophy has no place in the hall — and that has stirred up controversy at the school.

The University of Southern California's Heritage Hall displays six Heisman trophies. If senior Darian Nourian had his way, there would only be five.

In a column published last week on the Daily Trojan, Nourian urged the university to remove O.J. Simspon's trophy from the hall. After all, he argues, the school returned Reggie Bush's Heisman after the National Collegiate Athletic Association imposed sanctions on USC upon learning he had received improper benefits. 

Many readers expressed strong disagreement with the opinion piece, with some chalking it up as typical of the millennial generation. That flabbergasted Nourian.

"That people would defend O.J., yeah it was very surprising to me," he told Take Two. 

Nourian said that he understood why USC fans wouldn't want another Heisman Trophy gone.

"I'm not trying to advocate the Heisman Trophy trust to take away O.J. Simpson's Heisman Trophy. They had their chance back in the 1990s," he said. "But it is hard to swallow the fact that you can walk into Heritage Hall and see O.J. Simpson, a convicted felon, an incarcerated felon, be celebrated."

Listen to the full conversation above.