Reggie Bush Reveals The Retroactively Idiotic Reason The Texans Didn’t Draft Him

In 2006, the New Orleans Saints selected Reggie Bush with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft after the Texans passed on the chance to secure the talents of the running back—a decision Houston apparently made due to some retroactively poor advice.

It seemed like Reggie Bush had all the makings of a No. 1 draft pick when you consider what he was able to achieve during his time at the University of Southern California.

The running back won a couple of national championships with the Trojans and secured the Heisman Trophy thanks to his stellar play during his final season at USC , although he was eventually forced to forfeit the award thanks to the fairly overblown scandal stemming from gifts he and his family received from an agent while he was still in college.

The Houston Texans ultimately decided to scoop up defensive end Mario Williams with the first pick, which was a fairly surprising development at the time (although it didn’t turn out to be a terrible move based on what he was able to achieve in his five seasons with the franchise).

The New Orleans Saints didn’t really have to think too hard about drafting Bush with the next pick, and now, we have some insight into why he didn’t end up suiting up for the Texans courtesy of the man himself.

On Tuesday, the retired RB stopped by The Dan Patrick Show to reflect on what transpired prior to the NFL Draft that year while revealing why Houston ultimately opted to go in a different direction.

Here’s what he had to say:

“You want to know the truth? The truth is Charley Casserly. He hasn’t talked about it. We actually had the opportunity to discuss it when I was working for NFL Network because one of the executives found out the truth…

Apparently, it was because they hired a private investigator to investigate me during the Heisman Trophy debacle that was happening at the time, and the investigator came back and said that I was a bad guy, I had bad character, I was a street kid, and that they shouldn’t sign me.”

Bush added NFL Network tried to get Casserly to sit down with him for a conversation concerning that decision but the former Texans GM ultimately decided to turn down the invitation.

It wasn’t necessarily a disastrous move on Houston’s part, although the private investigator certainly missed the mark when it came to his assessment.

The Saints, on the other hand, were more than able to take advantage, as Bush (who arrived in New Orleans the same year as Drew Brees) was a major reason they were able to turn things around en route to winning Super Bowl XLIV.