New Orleans charities will miss Reggie Bush

New Orleans Will Miss Reggie Bush, but Not Number 25
Whitney Laurence, Yahoo! Contributor Network


Reggie Bush, the New Orleans Saints' occasionally explosive running back, is now on his way to the Miami Dolphins thanks to a two-year sign-and-trade deal. The good news for Saints fans is that the team has more money in the bank with which to pay other players. The bad news is that they've lost a better player than many people realize. Worse news is that New Orleans is losing a great citizen.

Pundits like to point out that the Saints have a better winning record without Bush than with him, but that's true of quite a few players on the team, among them some valuable pieces of the championship-winning puzzle such as Lance Moore. Moore recently inked a five-year deal with the Saints, so why was Reggie no longer worth the money he was once worth when he was the Saints' second-round draft pick in 2006?

It's simple: Reggie Bush cost too much. Bush couldn't have lived up to his hype if he'd been the second coming of Gale Sayers as so many pundits believed he was. He's a very good player who unfortunately got saddled with great expectations; he was always going to cost more than naysayers felt he was worth. Five years later, rookies won't get the big paychecks they used to have; maybe future rookies won't feel so weighed down with possibility that they never realize their full potential.

To New Orleanians, Bush's greater worth may have been outside the Superdome. The field in Tad Gormley Stadium will remain Reggie Bush Field after Bush donated thousands of dollars of his rookie paycheck to repair the Katrina-torn facility. He was instrumental in the Saints' 2009 run to Super Bowl XLIV, but he also gave his time and talent to charities throughout the Gulf South. This city and this region won't forget how much he's done in his five years here.
With Drew Brees healthy at QB, a cadre of talented and underrated wide receivers including Marques Colston and Lance Moore, and a stable of dangerous running backs in Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, and rookie Mark Ingram, the New Orleans Saints probably won't miss Reggie Bush much on the field. Sean Payton has plenty of talent on which to rest his fearsome offense. But Saints fans will miss the occasionally electrifying, sometimes gravity-defying Bush on the field. They'll miss the guy who did indeed "Bring The Wood" to that Cardinals game.

They'll also miss a guy who has become a local fixture, icon, and favorite topic of debate. Reggie Bush has often had the word "decoy" attached to his name. His ability to be a lightning rod for attention took place off the field, too; no figure in recent Saints history has been more of a talking point for fans. Who will the citizens of the Who Dat Nation debate when Reggie's in Miami?

Good luck in Miami, Reggie. You're more than welcome to come back home to NOLA once you retire -- but if you come in aqua and orange, look out for Vilma and his friends.

>>>I'm glad somebody made this point; Reggie did do a lot for local charities including many associated with the local Catholic Church and schools.