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The USC Trojans football team of the 2000s was the epitome of the metropolitan area in which they played.
The team was a combination of Hollywood, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Long Beach all rolled into one.
Led by Pete Carroll, the Trojans featured a plethora of superstars including Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Matt Cassel, Mark Sanchez, Justin Fargas, Joe McKnight, Mike Williams, Steve Smith, Dwayne Jarrett, Fred Davis, LenDale White, Frostee Rucker, Everson Griffen, Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews, Kenechi Udeze, Rey Maualuga, Eric Wright, Troy Polamalu, and, perhaps the biggest name of them all, Reggie Bush.
Much like the Miami Hurricanes of the 1990s, the Trojans of that era were extremely popular with celebrities who wanted to be associated with the glamorous and winning college football program.
Tuesday, on the Games With Names podcast, Reggie Bush shared some wild tales about the USC Trojans football team from his playing days there with Julian Edelman.
“We had every celebrity known to mankind on the sidelines, you know what I mean?” Bush recalled. “So that was where the star-studded, lights, camera, action, Hollywood look and feel, you know, infused into college football. That’s where all that happened.”
Reggie Bush then was asked about Pete Carroll, then USC’s head coach.
“I always loved the fact that Pete brought the youthfulness to the team,” Bush replied. “And then he would bring, you know, a bunch of celebrities. Snoop Dogg was at our practices running routes with the receivers and Will Ferrell would be out there, you know? And it was just, it was amazing, man, because, again, I thought Pete did a masterful job at being able to bring Hollywood and football together, you know?”
“And and that’s the thing that USC offers that no other university can offer, is you have both of these two worlds where if you can bring them together and win? Forget about it,” Reggie Bush exclaimed.