Reggie Bush Has Focus on Becoming a Texan

By Jim Trotter

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

INDIANAPOLIS - The demand for Reggie Bush was so great at the annual NFL Scouting Combine yesterday that league officials had to call in security and request an electric cart just so he could get from the RCA Dome to his hotel.

He had been pestered repeatedly by a small group of fans who wanted his autograph on everything from a magazine cover to a deflated football to a mini USC helmet. The only one not seeking his signature, it seemed, was the team he so badly wants to sign with: the Houston Texans.

Houston has the top pick in April's NFL draft, and though it has yet to say whom it will select, Reggie Bush remains the favorite. He left no doubt about his wishes during several media sessions yesterday.

Reggie Bush arrived at the RCA Dome wearing baggy gray sweatpants and white Nikes, but the appearance could not have been more deceiving, considering he was all business once he walked through the doors. The only time the Heisman Trophy-winning running back from USC and Helix High flashed his playful side was when someone asked what he likes about Houston .

"No state tax," he said, smiling.

Other than that, Reggie Bush stayed on point. He kept his answers short, his theme consistent: He will use the next two months to do everything possible to persuade the Texans to select him. He's so serious and focused that, unlike teammate Matt Leinart, who signed with a Hollywood marketing agency and has made the national rounds in commercials and ad campaigns, he has passed up chances to cash in on his good looks and popular name.

"I've had those same opportunities, but what I really wanted to do was focus on this draft, focus on preparing myself for this combine and really just, like I said, stay focused," he said. "All the other things, all the photo shoots, all this stuff, will come."

To some observers, his poise and focus off the field is as impressive as his speed and elusiveness on it. After being interviewed by Reggie Bush two months ago, a prospective agent walked away figuratively shaking his head.

"There was no doubt who was running the show," Leigh Steinberg said. "Reggie was asking the questions, taking the notes, using the laptop. He was in control of the situation."

Nothing has changed. USC Reggie Bush has a plan and is following it. He spent the past month trying to add muscle and weight (he's now at 201 pounds) for the scouts and personnel people who've expressed concern about his ability to handle the pounding of an every-down back; and this month he will focus on speed workouts in preparation for USC's April 2 pro day.

"I know what I want to do, and I know that I want to focus the majority of my time preparing for the NFL draft and the NFL," said Reggie Bush, who won't run at the combine. "The limelight stuff, the commercials - all that stuff will come later. I'll do a few here and there, but I won't be doing a lot of it. I just feel like this is what I want to do (be the No. 1 pick), and that's one of the things that has to be cut out in order to achieve my goals."

Reggie Bush isn't the only high draft pick who intends to skip the on-field workouts. Neither Leinart nor Texas QB Vince Young will work, opting instead to wait for their schools' pro days.

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