SaintPauly

In an interview, on sporting news radio this morning, Reggie Bush was asked: "Can you guys go undefeated this season?" Reggie's response: "Yes, this team CAN go undefeated. We have the players, the coaches, and the heart to do it." Now that was paraphrased, but essentially what he said.

All the analysts are going crazy over this, saying that it is too bold of a prediction. Now.... WHAT WAS HE SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THIS? "Um, I'm sorry, but no, this team CAN'T go undefeated. We will eventually lose a game in there somewhere. I don't have enough faith in myself, or my teammates, to make a prediction like that."

Look at the question: "CAN you guys go undefeated this year?" Not, "WILL you guys go undefeated this year?" He answered it correctly. Say what you want, but how you phrase a question, has alot to do with the way you answer it. Reggie answered it the only way he could.

What's popular is not always right, and what's right is not always popular.....

RaginCajun83

ESPN really p$@ssed me off about his answer. They built NFL Live around it and the two clowns on that show had to throw their unimportant two cents in. What was Reggie to do, not answer the question or tell them "nah, the Saints will be lucky to win another game the whole year. Really what else was he to do?

papz

If someone on the Colts said this, it would be a completely different story. The media is going to twist everything their way in order to generate something controversial for ratings... nothing new.

MatthewT

True, Reggie gave the correct answer. Yes, the Saints CAN go undefeated, as we all know it probably will not happen.

SaintPauly

You seriously can see, the difference in journalistic ethics, between ESPN, and the NFL Network. I am watching Total Access right now, and they haven't even MENTIONED this story so far. I'm waiting for ESPN to come out with another reallity television show.... The VH1 of sports.

MatthewT

ESPN really does suck, I really do not watch them anymore, or even go to their website on a regular basis.

SaintPauly

Reggie Bush made perhaps his finest NFL touchdown Sunday at Miami, shaking a tackle, bursting to the corner, and then leaping over defenders and diving to the corner of the end zone. Sporting News Radio's Tim Montemayor caught up with Bush this week to talk about that play, QB Drew Brees and the Saints' undefeated start.

Q: Your leaping touchdown was amazing. You take a lot of heat for the type of player you are, but you have to admit that play was pretty amazing.
A: I'm just being 100 percent honest with you: I expect myself to make plays like that. So when it happened, I knew it was a big play but it wasn't to me like "Wow, how can you do that?" It was more like, "I expect to do that stuff." I knew from when I got the ball in my hands that I was going to do anything and everything to get into the end zone, and that's just the mentality you have to have in this game. It was a great play, and it came at a crucial time in the game. We were battling back and forth, and Miami's a tough team. They gave us a run for our money, but I think fortunately for us we have great character guys and guys with a lot of heart on our team. We fought all the way to the end.

Q: After you scored on that 10-yard run to pull within 34-31 in the fourth quarter, most of us thought for sure the Saints would win. Did you?
A: Even when we were down 24-3, I knew we were still in the game and that we were just a couple of plays away. I knew that it was just a matter of time, and we had to weather the storm, ride it out and score some points to get back in the game and we'd have a shot. That game was like being back in college--last year we were down a couple of games at halftime, but we knew the type of team we were and that we could come back and win this game if we just stayed focused and weathered the storm.

Q: The other thing that stood out was Brees stealing your goal-line carries (laughs).
A: (Laughs) I think that was unique and special for Drew because it's not too often that a QB can get two rushing touchdowns. I think it was more special to see him jump up and dunk the ball on the goal post because you never see that.

Q: I didn't think he could get up that high. You?
A: I didn't either. After the touchdown I told him, 'You've got some pretty good hops for a white guy." (laughs)

Q: A lot of people think you guys are one-dimensional, but you guys have proved this season that you can run the ball.
A: Yeah, and that's the reason we've been able to be successful this year because we are so diverse. We can score not just offensively but defensively, too. Our defense is putting up points for us. ... They scored 14 points for us (Sunday), which was key for us winning that game. So we need all those touchdowns, and it really was the reason why we won on Sunday.

Q: You might be one of the most criticized athletes of all time because of all the expectations people put on you coming out of USC. Do you think that's fair?
A: You have to have thick skin in this business because it's a "what have you done for me lately" business. You can have a great game Week 1 and play terrible the next week and it doesn't matter because people are going to criticize you. Another thing you have to have is heart and determination, and those are things that I do have. My whole life, everything I've worked for and everything I've gotten I've worked for, so it's special for me. I know that once I do get to that point, because it will happen. Once I do win an NFL MVP, once we do win a Super Bowl, once I am in the Pro Bowl, it will be that much more special because of all the criticism that I went through.

Q: So I should expect you to win and MVP and a Super Bowl sometime soon?
A: Yes, you should expect that because that's what I expect from myself. There's nobody in this world that's going to expect more from me than me. I am my own biggest critic, and when I get a negative play or game I'm hard on myself.

Q: You're always going to be linked to Texans defensive end Mario Williams, who was drafted No. 1 overall in your class, even though you're two totally different players. Is it fair?
A: It's like comparing a monster truck and a Ferrari and saying that the monster truck is more powerful. ... Well yeah it is, it's a monster truck and Ferrari's are built for speed. So it's part of the business, and it comes with the territory and you've got to have thick skin and you just have to continue to have heart and determination. I know what kind of player I am, and it's only a matter of time before it happens. I think it's unfortunate that I've been injured the past two season, but if you look at when I was healthy last year I was producing and making plays, so it takes times when you come back from those type of injuries. People want results now, and I get that. I want results now, too. However, it takes time when you come back from injuries like that because you have to get back to being yourself and you can't just pound it out right away because you have to give your body time to readjust to that pounding because it's not used that. I mean I want to go out and pound it out 25-30 times a game but I can't because I had such an extensive injury last year it's going to take me some time to get back to being myself.

Q: Can the Saints, now 6-0, go undefeated?
A: Of course my first answer is going to be, 'We're going to take it one game at a time, and that's our mentality" (laughs). I have to say it--if I don't say it, then I'm going to get some hell from teammates. But can we go undefeated? Yes, I do think we have the players, the chemistry, we have the heart and dedication, the coaching staff, we have the players and ...

Q: Do you have the schedule?
A: A lot of people would argue that we have a tough schedule. We weren't supposed to beat the Giants like that, the New York jets were supposed to be tough, each week I don't think we've been picked to win a game yet. We were picked to lose in Miami, we were picked to lose against the Eagles, against the Giants, we were picked to lose against the Jets. But we continue to weather the storm, we continue to believe in ourselves.

Q: How good is Brees?
A: Drew Brees is a fighter. He's a competitor, and he's a hard worker. And those are the things you want out of your quarterback. He's in the film room, he's in there working and he's a guy that believes in his team and he's never going to give up, no matter what the situation is. You saw that in Sunday's game. He had three interceptions and a fumble, and yet he continued to just grind it out, weather the storm, stay positive. We know who we are, we know what we can do and let's just go out and do what we've been doing all year. And that's what you saw on Sunday, you saw a great character win. Most teams would have tanked at that point, down 24-3 (near) halftime, and we continued to fight. Drew got the touchdown, the quarterback sneak 5 seconds before the half ended and then came out in the second half, readjusted and we just focused, got some key turnovers and next thing you know we're back in the game.

Q: I think the Saints are playing for more than just themselves. You're playing for the city of New Orleans, right?
A: You're absolutely right. I think from that first year when we went to the (NFC) championship game, I think everyone realized the specialness of the players we have here, and what this team could do and what we could be. It was a tough road getting here; we had some success, and then the next two years we had a lot of failure and we didn't live up to expectations. But now we're where we're supposed to be, and I think it's more appreciated because of what we had to go through. ... We had to experience failure first; we had to experience defeat first.Sporting News Radio this morning:

What's popular is not always right, and what's right is not always popular.....

Euphoria

I didn't see where he garenteed a win? He said he felt they could do it thats all.

Rugby Saint II

He answered a yes or no question. No guarantees and no miscommunication.

xan

Say nothing, make your statements on the field