Reggie Bush was one of the most dynamic college football players of all time during his time at USC where he won a Heisman Trophy (which was eventually taken away due to improper benefits allegations) in 2005 and looked like a sure-fire first-round pick who could even go No. 1 overall.
The Houston Texans owned the first pick that year but ended up drafting defensive end Mario Williams, leaving Bush to fall to No. 2 to the New Orleans Saints.
While Bush said he loved his time in New Orleans, he revealed on the Dan Patrick Show this week that the Texans were planning to take Bush No. 1 overall until a private investigator persuaded Houston to pass on the running back after the investigator looked into the NCAA’s allegations.
“The investigator came back and said that I was a bad guy, I had bad character, I was a street kid and that they shouldn’t sign me, that they shouldn’t draft me,” Bush said. “They wanted to do this one-on-one with me and [Texans general manager] Charlie Casserly and just kind of talk about it. And at first, Casserly said, ‘Yeah,’ but then he ended up backing out.”
.@ReggieBush shares the truth behind why he wasn’t drafted 1st overall by the #Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft.
Full interview: https://t.co/RFiAvEYlv3 pic.twitter.com/NetG911PzK
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 16, 2024
This sets up an incredible alternate universe theory with Bush wearing Texans colors instead of Saints colors.
But Bush’s legacy was tied directly to the situation that unfolded from his time at USC where the NCAA alleged he and his family were given gifts from an agent during his time in college – which wasn’t allowed.
The results of that investigation led to him dropping one spot in the draft, although he still played 11 years in the NFL for five different teams.
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