Reggie Bush still has much 'to live for'
Despite giving back Heisman and suffering broken leg, star has at least 52.5 millions reasons to be optimistic
By Anna Morgan and Damian Tatum
The Levee upbeat writers
After forfeiting his 2005 Heisman Trophy before it could be stripped from him like a piece of his fibula recently was, the Saints’ emotionally- and physically-devastated running back Reggie Bush was striving to remain positive at practice this week.
“I’m lucky that I have a few other things to live for,” Bush said, speaking for one of the first times since returning his 2005 Heisman Trophy and, a week later, breaking his right leg when 259-pound San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks crashed into and snapped Bush’s right leg during a loose-ball scrum.
“Even though I decided to give back my Heisman and I’ve now forfeited a quarter-inch of my fibula, I’m trying to look at the bright side,” Bush said, elevating his leg on a copy of his $52.5 million Saints contract after perusing it for possible injury bonuses while at the team’s Metairie practice facility.
When again asked his thoughts on being the first and only Heisman winner in 75 years to ever return the trophy, Bush candidly quipped, “I’m the only winner to plow Kim Kardashian, too. I guess I’ll get over it.”
Blinding reporters with lasers of bling reflecting the brilliant summer sum off his diamond-studded Super Bowl championship ring, the lightning-fast Saint said he is more interested in “looking forward, not backward, and more north and south, rather than east and west.”
Regarding looking forward, Bush was asked what it is that a physically injured and emotionally scarred athlete of his caliber does to repair his body and mind and keep upbeat.
“Specifically, right now, I’m looking forward to getting home to my condo and away from you guys for a poolside soirée with Chris Paul and some Honey Bees,” he said. “Is it 6 o’clock yet? I’ll survive.”
Still, the Heisman scandal, involving gifts he accepted while a student-athlete at the University of Southern California, appeared to be weighing on the running back as he talked about his injury.
“Rather than allow uncertainty to linger regarding the status of my shin bone, I made the heartbreaking decision to relinquish use of it until Week 8 of the 2010 NFL season,” Bush said, reading from a note card. “I hope this decision allows me, my family, my doctors, and the team to move on.”
“What choice did he have, really?” asked football analyst Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com. “Either he was going to vacate it, or he was going to force the doctors to have a vote and I think they would have taken it. He did the honorable thing, but it’s just a PR move.”
Putting the note cards down, Bush said relinquishing the use of his leg, which will render him ineligible for the next four-to-six weeks, is “heartbreaking,” but noted that he earned almost $14,000-per-yard last season, and that his ineligibility should push that ratio “way, way up” after his return.
“See, there’s a bright side to everything,” Bush said from the passenger’s seat of his quarter-million-dollar, limited-edition (one of only three) 2006 Mercedes Benz CLS500 with Shark II kit. “See ya!”
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