In Bush, New Orleans Truly Has a Saint on Its Hands
By Tom Weir, USA TODAY

A New Orleans priest nicknamed him "St. Reginald" because of his charitable works. A teammate calls him "The Matrix" because on the football field he dodges tacklers with the same ease bullets were eluded in that movie.

And in college he was known as "The President," after another man named Bush singled him out at the White House.

"But I just go by plain Reggie," says Reggie Bush, the New Orleans Saints running back and the NFL's most anticipated rookie since Michael Vick began playing quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. "That's me. That's who I am. And I think that's a powerful name in itself."

The Saints don't open the season until Sept. 10, but the power of Bush's name already is evident amid New Orleans' struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

A trying year for the Saints and their city<

Pepsi soon will announce a "Yard by Yard, Neighborhood by Neighborhood" program that aims to build 25 homes in the New Orleans area with donations from the company based on Bush's yardage totals. Holy Rosary High School, a special-needs school in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, can keep its classes open, thanks to Bush's donation of $56,000 in sponsorship money from the Adidas shoe and apparel company.

Bush also is personally funding an $86,000 artificial turf field for Tad Gormley Stadium, where about six high school football games are played each week because many New Orleans schools don't have their own fields.

In September, Bush will introduce his 619 cologne, named for his hometown San Diego area code, and designate a percentage of royalties for hurricane relief.

And on Sept. 5, in conjunction with the NFL Players Association, he and other players will help distribute four tons of food in the New Orleans area.

That will continue the NFL's prominent role in Katrina relief. Among the league's stars who have led fundraising efforts are the New Orleans-born Manning brothers, Eli and Peyton, and native Mississippians Steve McNair and Brett Favre.

Several Saints visited evacuee centers after Katrina swamped New Orleans last Aug. 29, and the team established a relief fund and has participated in cleanup efforts. One bride-to-be who lost an engagement ring in the storm was given a new one by tight end Ernie Conwell.

But Bush, who has purchased a downtown condominium, clearly already rivals the popularity of those veterans in New Orleans. The Saints have sold more than 55,000 season tickets, a franchise record, and one of the loudest cheers at Mayor C. Ray Nagin's inauguration speech in June came when he shouted, "We have Reggie Bush!"

Grateful to be snubbed

The television images of Katrina's brutality, Bush says, didn't prepare him for what he saw on his first-ever trip to New Orleans, in April.

"It's a whole other level," Bush says. "You don't really understand it fully until you see it in person. I was like, 'Man, this is crazy.' "

Having the chance to ease that craziness, Bush says, makes him grateful the Houston Texans shocked fans when they didn't select him as the No. 1 pick in last April's NFL Draft.

"I definitely feel like there's a lot more I can do for the community of New Orleans than I could in Houston," says Bush, who was chosen second behind North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams.

Mike Ornstein, Bush's marketing agent, says the Texans' decision was the key to his client's windfall of endorsements.

"There's no way we get these endorsements if we're in Houston, I believe," Ornstein says.

"Pepsi for sure is a New Orleans relationship. They really wanted to give something back to that community."

Ornstein says Bush's realization that he could contribute to New Orleans' recovery came during his first visit to the city. Accompanying Bush on the limousine ride into town was Sports Illustrated writer Peter King, who, Ornstein says, told Bush, "You have a chance to be the most influential player in the history of the NFL."

"Reggie didn't say anything then, but later that night he said, 'That's who I want to be, so you work out how we do that and let's start getting it done,' " Ornstein says.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says: "Reggie really did all of this on his own. We can't take any credit. Reggie deserves the credit."

At the Saints' training camp at Millsaps College here, Bush winced two weeks ago when reminded that he's being called a savior in New Orleans.

"I'm not trying to be a savior. I'm just trying to help win some games and maybe a Super Bowl someday," Bush says.

"I don't feel like I need to be praised for it. I'm just doing what I think anybody else would do if they were in my position."

Efforts appreciated

Capt. Rob Callahan of the Slidell (La.) Police Department has Bush to thank for his four-wheeled office, a Hummer.

It is one of 12 that Hummer, with whom Bush has an endorsement deal, loaned through next June to Slidell, where being able to cruise through 2 feet of water remains essential for police.

Three-fourths of Slidell was under water after Katrina, Callahan says, and the police department building still hasn't reopened.

"In this area Reggie Bush is, for lack of a better word, a god," Callahan says. "I don't think there is anyone in our area who doesn't know Reggie Bush and what he's doing for the victims of the hurricane."

Callahan adds that Bush's importance to New Orleans isn't a case of sports hyperbole run amok.

"The community here, the entire region, is in need of a winner, something to think about other than the daily problems of Katrina," says Callahan, adding that 60% of Slidell's police officers lost their homes. "People think we're doing OK now, a year after Katrina. But, no, we're still struggling. Many of us are still in FEMA trailers. I'm still in a FEMA trailer."

At Holy Rosary High, school President Patty Glaser says that if not for Bush, her 105 special-needs students would have been scattered to schools that don't specialize in educating teens with dyslexia, attention-deficit problems and other learning issues.

"You get sent to a room with other kids who can't handle it, basically," Glaser says. "That's the message."

When Greg Bensel, the Saints' vice president of communications, told Bush the school needed $50,000 to avoid closing in a few days, "He said, 'Let's do it,' " Bensel says.

At a May ceremony, the Rev. William Maestri, superintendent of Catholic schools in the New Orleans archdiocese, likened Bush to St. Reginald of Orleans, a 13th-century French saint who helped establish the Dominican order.

"May you be the burning Bush that lights the way of so many," Maestri told Bush. Then Maestri concluded with, "Above all, I want to thank Houston. ... Texans have once again given to Louisiana, and we are very grateful."

After the student body ended with a "Reggie, Reggie" chant, Glaser says, "You could see he was truly moved. He was teary-eyed."

Likewise, Glaser says Bush's effect on Louisiana can't be overstated. At a fish market on the day of the Saints' first preseason game, she says, all the customers around her were talking about how they rearranged dinner plans to make sure they would see Bush.

"There are days when you go, 'Whoa, it's hard just living here right now,' " Glaser says. "We need a beacon of light here right now. I think he can provide that spark, that energy."

Something to prove

Saints wide receiver Joe Horn christened Bush "The Matrix" and also sometimes calls his 5-11½, 203-pound teammate "Baby Matrix."

"He's a bad boy," Horn says. "His athleticism is crazy. The way he catches the ball, his burst. The defender may think he's got him, then he just kicks it into another gear."

Bush has denied feeling insulted by the Texans' decision to draft Williams No. 1, saying, "There's no chip on my shoulder, not at all. I play with a chip on my shoulder anyway."

But Horn says he thinks the snub will be a major source of motivation.

"Without a doubt," Horn says. "He wants to prove not only to everybody in the league but to himself that, 'I was the second pick, but I should have been the first pick and I'm showing you that now.' "

Among the Saints, the only criticism of Bush is that he perhaps is trying a little too hard.

"I think he needs to learn to put a bad play behind him," Saints coach Sean Payton says after a training-camp practice in which Bush openly vented his frustration over a dropped pass.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees says: "He's one of those guys who's so competitive and so intense. The guy cares. He wants to be the best, he truly does. ... Once he gets comfortable, he can be a terror."

As a pass-catching running back who hopes to also return kickoffs and punts, Bush mixes an explosive zig with an electric zag. Saints running backs coach George Henshaw naturally won't share details of New Orleans' offensive plan but says, "Obviously, you'd like to see him get the ball in his hands 20 times a game."

In his preseason opener Aug. 12 against the Tennessee Titans, Bush showed his potential to duplicate in the NFL the freelancing runs that helped power Southern California to two national championships. Running left, Bush found defenders in his way and then cut back across the entire field for a 44-yard gain in the Saints victory.

New Orleans' The Times-Picayune newspaper ran an editorial the next day, saying, "As much as the sheer talent on display, Reggie's run was a balm for our spirits. May there be many more to come."

As the nation's collegiate leader last season with 222.3 all-purpose yards a game, Bush understands expectations are at an all-time high in his ravaged city. He is the fourth Heisman Trophy winner drafted by the Saints, and disappointment accompanied the other three.

George Rogers led the NFL in rushing as a rookie in 1981 but was traded three years later when his production declined. Quarterback Danny Wuerffel played in only 16 games with the Saints from 1997 to '99 and threw more interceptions than touchdown passes. Ricky Williams had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2002 but is remembered primarily as the player for whom then-coach Mike Ditka gave up far too many draft picks to acquire.

With only one Saints playoff victory in their 39 seasons, New Orleans has long yearned for a winner.

"The pressure of the community — he wants it," marketing agent Ornstein says.

Bush will get it Sept. 25, when the Saints' home opener against the Falcons on a Monday night will give New Orleans a chance to show the nation its resilience and also that much work remains to be done.

Bush says no demands from the fans will be greater than the ones he already puts on himself.

"I want to be the greatest; I want to be the best," he says. "I feel like I'm already my biggest critic."

And for the moment in New Orleans, perhaps the only one.