Saint Reginald – Reggie Bush

The thunderous chants – “Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!” – started early and reverberated throughout the jammed cafeteria of Holy Rosary Academy and High School in Metairie.

If there is such a thing as a Pied Piper for the National Football League’s neediest franchise, a person with rare athletic ability and Hollywood charisma to lift a bedraggled city about 100 feet above its base flood elevation, then he is Reggie Bush, the New Orleans Saints’ No. 1 draft choice.

Holy Rosary students and parents canonized him by acclamation May 15 as St. Reginald, their No. 1 Saint. At a school assembly for more than 200 students and parents, the Heisman Trophy winner put up $50,000 in matching funds to help save the high school program for students with learning difficulties.

“You are not only a New Orleans Saint, but you also have a saint named after you,” said Father William Maestri, superintendent of Catholic schools for the archdiocese of New Orleans.

Father Maestri related the story of St. Reginald of Orleans, a 13th century French saint who had a vision of the Blessed Mother that asked him to team with St. Dominic to establish the Dominican order. The vision, Father Maestri said, included the general outlines of the white Dominican habit or “uniform.”

Presenting Reggie Bush with a fresco of St. Reginald, Father Maestri jokingly referred to Reggie Bush’s hopes of wearing his college number in the pros, saying he wasn’t sure if the vision included a uniform with “No. 5 on the back.” As it turns out, Reggie Bush will have to wait one more year to wear No. 5 as a Saint when the league changes its uniform numbering guidelines for the 2007 season.

But the most important number at the assembly was the $50,000 Reggie Bush pledged to keep the high school section of Holy Rosary open. With only 32 students in high school and the archdiocese under financial constraints, the Office of Catholic Schools intended to “restructure” the school, which would have forced parents to find a school that would meet their children’s needs next year.

Patty Glaser, Holy Rosary Academy president, said parents, including those with elementary students, rallied immediately and began soliciting donations from the business community. Parents have raised an additional $81,000 to date. Madonna Hayden, whose son Michael is a kindergartner, is close friends with Saints’ public relations director Greg Bensel and sought his help.

By the next day, Bensel had called back saying Reggie Bush had stepped up to offer the matching funds in an effort to keep the high school open.

“I knew that Reggie Bush was wanting to get involved in the community, and I can’t think of a better cause for him to get involved in than with these children who need this type of learning environment with its small class size and philosophy,” Hayden said. “This school has made an incredible difference in our son’s life. It’s indescribable. I couldn’t repay this school enough.”

Reggie Bush told the cheering students, all of whom were wearing T-shirts that read “Holy Rosary Academy and High School, Reggie Bush The Connection,” said he was thrilled to be asked to get involved.

“We’re going to need all this cheering,” Reggie Bush said, smiling. “Bear with me. If we don’t win every game, just remember this check. … You’ve got something special going on right here. I’m just the middle man. We need to make the most of our blessings, and you’ve got a lot going for yourselves.”

Father Maestri took a veiled dig at the Houston Texans, who passed up Reggie Bush in the NFL draft in order to select North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams. Reggie Bush was almost universally acclaimed as college football’s best player. After Hurricane Katrina, there were bumper stickers that cropped up on Louisiana cars with the phrase, “Thanks Houston,” for that city’s assistance in welcoming evacuees. Now the stickers have a double meaning.

“Above all, I want to thank Houston,” Father Maestri said. “Texans have once again given to Louisiana.”

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