Let’s not carve that bronze bust just yet
Dec 7, 2007 2006 Draft, Athletes who don't stab people, Cool dudes with cool cars, Overrated, Reggie Bush, Super Mario, Teams that aren't the Texans
As if it wasn’t painfully obvious from the weekly Moments of Zen, I do not much care for Reggie Bush. I fully admit that he was a bad ass in college–the best money could buy!–but I was never sold on the idea of him being the next Gayle Sayers. On top of which, I just didn’t like the guy because he seemed like a moody prima donna.
So, when I checked my email this morning and saw that reader Eric had emailed me this article, I couldn’t help but smile. It seems that even Saints fans are beginning to have doubts about Reggie.
Some choice quotes:
[W]ith Deuce McAllister’s knees becoming more unreliable with each tear, the spotlight has fallen on Reggie Bush. And he’s dropped the ball, literally and figuratively. And now the Saints have to worry about acquiring another running back this year.
[A]s he approaches the end of his second year (sans any big plays this year, or medium plays for that matter), it’s time to acknowledge the fact that Bush has been at best an incredible disappointment, at worst a flat-out bad player who’s threatening locker room morale.
It started this past offseason, when there were much muted rumblings that some Saints veterans didn’t appreciate Bush missing workout time to film some of his umpteenth commercials in California. And it’s bled into this season, one in which Bush has regressed noticeably.
With 14 seconds left in that game and the Saints in possession with a (very remote) chance of victory, Bush was already halfway to the locker room; Sean Payton had to furiously chase after him to pull him back to the sideline.
His roster spot is in no danger for at least two years, and I have faith that one day he’ll be a superstar. I just hope that day isn’t after he’s burned his bridges with the Saints.
I like that last one the best, because it sounds like a Saints fan trying to convince himself one last time that the pick wasn’t bad on its face–that the problem lies solely in Bush’s attitude. Color me unconvinced. You have a guy who:
- (a) has been handed everything his entire life, from houses and money while in college to millions in endorsements before he ever took an NFL handoff;
- (b) basically decided that it should be up to him where he played and that he didn’t want to play in Houston, so he made it clear that he was going to be a pain in the ass to sign if Houston did take him;
- (c) did not even show the ability to be a feature back in college and was noticeably absent near the end of both national championship games;
- (d) has shown zero ability or willingness to run between the tackles (something that is kind of important in the NFL) or to set up his blocks, and who is seemingly oblivious to the fact that he is not fast enough to get to the outside on every single play;
- (e) has, since the injury to Deuce McAllister, been nothing short of horrid in many games, with poor rushing totals, tons of fumbles, and almost no touchdowns; and
- (f) has become a locker room cancer because he refuses to be a part of the team or admit when something is his fault.
That doesn’t sound to me like someone who is going to “be a superstar” any time soon. Unlike certain defensive ends who recently broke the team’s single season sack record and could conceivably break the team career record in the next game. I’ve said it before, I’m saying it now, and undoubtedly I’ll say it again soon, but picking Mario Williams was without question the right move.
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December 7th, 2007 at 11:03 am
A lot of people have talked about the fact that part of the reason the Saints have been so bad this year is because opponents have realized they don’t have to account for Reggie Bush because he just isn’t as dangerous as they thought he was.
People like to point at his receiving yards and say he’s being productive, but you have to compare his receiving numbers to what happens when they throw the ball to anybody else – it’s nearly always more productive to run plays without Bush than it is with him. The opportunity cost, as they say in economics.
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December 7th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Remember last year when the same thing was happening and everyone said “oh, it’s just because Reggie Bush is so awesome as a decoy, it opens up the game for everyone else.” The failing logic in that argument, of course, is that to be a decoy, you have to actually, you know… not suck. Funny, I don’t hear much of that “decoy” talk anymore.
It’s unfortunate that as Texans fans, there are few things that we can really throw out as smack talking points for our franchise, but it is nice that at least on this one, we can collectively sit back and give the e-finger to the so called NFL media.
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December 7th, 2007 at 11:51 am
He’s still not even the most dangerous player in the open field. That title goes to Devin Hester. Chicago had one drive last night where they kept getting him the ball, and every single play he made a couple people miss and had touchdowns saved by great plays by LaRon Landry. I’ve never seen Bush show that kind of elusiveness on basic slant and button-hook patterns in the NFL.
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December 7th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Hmmm… then there’s this little nugget.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/reuben_frank/12/05/texans/index.html?eref=T1
On a national media source no less.
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December 7th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I like this line from the SI srticle-
Incredibly, the Texans’ Williams actually owns a longer play this year than Bush — his 38-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown is longer than any run, catch or return that Bush has managed.
Heh…….*cough*VINCE YOUNG*cough*…..
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December 7th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Good point, TMan; Mario’s 38-yarder is longer than any run Vince has this year, too.
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December 7th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
……. torn knee ligament. Out for season possibly.
so now Bush sucks in real life AND has killed my fantasy team.
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December 8th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Matt has said nothing usefull here.
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Please feel free to employ a spell-check device and to suck my sweaty nuts.
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December 8th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
@Tom:
And, wow, what an awesome argument with which you support your supposition. “Matt has said nothing usefull (sic) here.” There is no possible way he could argue that. I mean, to counter that, he would have to come up with – oh, I dunno, whatever the hell you are talking about? – and that’s not easy.
I believe, if you knew as much about football as you do about semantics, you would know that there were some people (though I really don’t know who beyond the comicle) who thought that bush would be the better pick over Mario. Basically, Matt is making the case that that is not a valid argument.
Of course, if I am wrong, please correct me. I value discussion over nuggets such as “The man can’t play” and “Matt has said nothing usefull (sic) here.” Call me a romantic, though.
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February 16th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
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