So far, Bush has been more flash than substance

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, September 13, 2007  |  Comments( 4 )

New Orleans Saints
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Reggie Bush's talent has emerged only in flashes thus far in his NFL career, like heat lightning.

Last Thursday night against Indianapolis, for instance, that talent took the night off.

Bush's numbers on behalf of New Orleans in that game were, to be blunt, dreadful. He carried the ball 12 times for 38 yards. He caught four passes for 7 yards, and he returned one punt for 2 yards. On this particular evening, the former Southern Cal game-breaker was a game-breaker for his team's offense.

What's up? Some of Bush's critics have skewered him recently for having way too much fun during the offseason. Yet no one has specifically accused Bush -- known as an offseason conditioning fanatic -- of being out of shape.

More likely, he still needs to learn the hard lesson handed out to all rookie running backs in the NFL -- it's OK to gain 4 yards on a play. In fact, it's encouraged.

It seems that Bush is trying to prove himself worthy of his advance hype -- which is, of course, impossible. He's not going to turn every play into an ESPN highlight.

On one occasion against Indianapolis, Bush passed up a sure 10-yard gain to cut back against the grain in search of something more spectacular. Very quickly, the Colts closed on him, and he was buried.

Last season, the highly touted rookie -- picked No. 2 in the 2006 draft -- averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and was often caught behind the line of scrimmage. On the other hand, he ran a punt back for a touchdown against Tampa Bay (which the Saints play this week) and caught an 86-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees in the NFC championship game against the Bears.

Heat lightning.

Bush is now the second-most advertised NFL player, behind Peyton Manning. He has a $5 million house, he's appeared in music videos, he's dating one-time sex-tape star Kim Kardashian, and he's featured on the cover of two different NFL video games.

The problem is, Bush looks a lot better on a Playstation field than a real one. It will be interesting to see if his tepid performance against the Colts singed his pride enough to bring out that heat lightning against the Buccaneers this week.

Otherwise, the off-field perks could dry up as quickly as they began.
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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Derric		12:08 PM
09/14/2007
It seems that Bush is trying to prove himself worthy of his advance hype -- which is, of course, impossible. He's not going to ...
No.2
Joe		06:05 PM
09/14/2007
I'll agree Bush has his ups and downs, but i'm putting him in against Tampa Bay this week. He has the ability to perform well, ...
No.3
VJD		12:09 PM
09/15/2007
What's With the Gratuitous Capitalization of Every Other Word? Are "Hype," "Expectations," and "Statement" Suddenly Proper ...
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