NEW YORK — Reggie Bush took the unprecedented step of giving back his Heisman Trophy on Tuesday, saying the scandal over improper benefits while he was a star running back at Southern California should not stain “the dignity of this award.”

The New Orleans Saints’ star won the Heisman — symbol of the best player in college football — in 2005.

Returning the trophy has no practical effect on Bush since he’s already in the pros and a member of a Super Bowl championship team. However, it is the first time in the award’s 75-year history that a player has forfeited it.

USC was hit with heavy sanctions by the NCAA this summer after it determined Bush and his family had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from two fledgling California-based marketing agents. The NCAA ruled that Bush was ineligible for the 2005 season, which opened the possibility that the Heisman Trophy Trust would take back the award.

One of the few guidelines given to Heisman Trophy voters is that a player must be in compliance with NCAA rules to be eligible for the award.

“The persistent media speculation regarding allegations dating back to my years at USC has been both painful and distracting,” Bush said in a statement released through the Saints. “In no way should the storm around these allegations reflect in any way on the dignity of this award, nor on any other institutions or individuals.