NEW ORLEANS -- Reggie Bush made Drew Brees an afterthought in April 2006.
That's the kind of glitz, glamour, star power and expectations Bush brought with him to New Orleans, still dizzied by Hurricane Katrina, when he dropped from the sky in the NFL Draft. The world was seemingly for the taking for one of the most electrifying college football players anyone had ever laid eyes upon.
The Saints had their franchise player to build around -- Bush, not Brees.
So where did it all go? How did Bush go from darling to droppable? How did Bush go from polarizing to pinata? From celebrity to castoff?
The substance never lived up to the style for Bush in New Orleans. It's one of the reasons the Saints jettisoned him to the Dolphins early Thursday morning. Bush will take his talents to South Beach, agreeing to a two-year deal to finalize a trade.
The fact the Saints received anything for Bush is amazing (it's unknown at this point what the Saints received in return). I guess that's how strongly the Dolphins felt they couldn't let Bush hit the open market. Bush's contract is around $10 million for two years, so it pales in comparison to his rookie deal.
Bush was set to become a $16 million salary cap albatross for the Saints. Both sides knew this would come to a head. The Saints, smartly, weren't going to pay anywhere near the $11.8 million base salary due to him in 2011. Bush and agent Joel Segal (who also represents Mark Ingram, Bush's heir apparent) knew there would be a market for Bush to make more money elsewhere, especially realizing teams had to spend money this offseason thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement.
And now he'll have carte blanche to become "The Man" with the Dolphins.
Good luck.
He only played a full season once, in 2006; injuries benched him for 16 games through the next four years in New Orleans. The culmination of Bush's Saints career came last season in Week 2 when he fumbled the ball away trying to field a punt against the 49ers and he broke his leg diving to recover it. He missed the next eight games, and the Saints essentially began the process of moving on from there.
I talked to someone last week who trained Bush for a couple of years with the Saints and posed the question: Brittle or unlucky? He said without hesitation unlucky. Bush will have every chance to prove that in Miami. He's expected to become the focal point in the Dolphins offense, much like Sean Payton tried to implement him to no avail in New Orleans.
But the trainer added that the Saints never properly mentored him to be an NFL running back. And if the Dolphins are handing Bush the keys to South Beach, they may be in for the same results as the Saints saw.
A flash here and there, but mostly panned.
There's no question Bush has been humbled through his years in New Orleans. From his lack of consistency on the field to his public disgrace for rampant NCAA violations while at USC resulting in his Heisman Trophy being yanked away, Bush learned plenty of life lessons.
During the 2007 season, a Bush associate chatting with me before a game said Bush was never a "team guy" while he was at USC and wouldn't be a "team guy" while in New Orleans. The person was right, at the time.
That changed as time progressed as Bush steadily became more of a locker-room guy. Yet at the same time, his role was being diminished. A combination of decreasing health and decreasing production forced, and I mean forced, Payton to stray from centering his offensive philosophy on Bush. So Bush's role diminished as his contract figures were drastically increasing.
A death knell for any player, even Bush.
You can't help but compare Bush to another member of his former college fraternity. In March 2002, the Saints traded another former Heisman Trophy winner and top-five pick to the Dolphins, sending the overhyped, underachieving (at the time) Ricky Williams to Miami for draft picks. Williams flourished for a couple of seasons in Miami, but a self-induced career tailspin is Williams' legacy.
Miami will now be Bush's chance for redemption. But if his five years in New Orleans tell you anything, there's no way he'll ever live up to his full expectations.
No way.
Source: http://feeds.cbssports.com/click.phdo?i=235f21f024c02ef224f7627a16205288
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