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‘That looks like LeBron’: Big Ten players struggle to identify Reggie Bush from 2005
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If you’re old enough to remember Reggie Bush dominating the sport and claiming the 2005 Heisman Trophy, what you’re about to see might cause you some mild discomfort.
At Big Ten Media Days this past week in Las Vegas, the social team at CBS Sports asked various players from around the league to identify Bush from a 2005 photo of him after winning the Heisman Trophy.
The results were… painful.
“That looks like LeBron James,” Wisconsin center Jake Renfro said.
“Is that Adrian Peterson?” Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher asked.
“I was like 2 when that happened,” Nebraska offensive lineman Henry Lutovsky said. “Come on, man.”
Oh.
Give Rutgers linebacker Dariel Djabome credit. He knew who he was looking at, he just didn’t have the name immediately available. That’s probably better than “LeBron James.”
Bush is 1 of 8 former USC players to have won a Heisman Trophy. No other FBS program has won more.
The California native was a 2-time All-American and a 2-time Pac-10 Player of the Year. He finished fifth in Heisman voting during the 2004 season — his quarterback, Matt Leinart, won that year — and made that everyone else’s problem the following season.
In 13 games as a junior, Bush ran for 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns while also bringing in 478 receiving yards and 2 more scores. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry. He also returned 28 kickoffs, averaging 17.6 yards per return, and took a punt back to the house for a touchdown.
Bush went on to be the second overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He spent 11 seasons in the NFL, during which he totaled 10,017 all-purpose yards and scored 58 touchdowns. He won Super Bowl XLIV with the Saints and was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame in 2019.
But how does all that affect LeBron’s legacy? That’s the real question.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.