What happened to that guy?

What happened to the guy who was once proclaimed (many times, actually) the greatest running back in college football history after a stellar career at Tailback U?

What happened to the guy who co-starred (along with Texas QB Vince Young and teammate Matt Leinart) in the 2006 Rose Bowl, no doubt the greatest national title game ever played?

What happened to the guy who was so good that when the then-hapless Houston Texans and equally putrid San Francisco 49ers were about to meet late during the 2005 season (on New Year's Day, '06, in fact) the game was tabbed The Reggie Bush Bowl? The loser would have the inside track on the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft – and the superstar back.

Or so we all thought.

Now, three seasons later, the Texans look like geniuses. They filled the greatest of their myriad needs by choosing a relatively anonymous defensive end  – North Carolina State's Mario Williams – instead of the SoCal Stud or their homegrown hero, Young.

Like I said, genius. Williams is a stud, and Bush isn't, at least not on Sunday afternoons in the fall.  That guy is nowhere to be found.

Bush, picked second by the New Orleans Saints, of course, missed 10 games over the past two seasons due to injuries. All told, he's averaged only 3.7 NFL yards per carry, about half his average in college and less than his less-hyped teammates.

What happened? Well, Bush discovered what so many other precocious talents do – that about the only thing the NFL and college football have in common is the pigskin.

Like the high-school prom queen who suddenly finds herself in a college dorm filled with tiara-wearing beauties, Bush learned that his speed was matched by the speed of the men trying to bring him down. He could no longer juke and tap dance his way out of trouble and into the end zone, that his moves only worked on Kim Kardashian.

At least he says he's learned. "It's like an alcoholic when they go into an [Alcoholics Anonymous] meeting or something," he told the Times-Picayune last month. "That's the first step, just recognizing it and getting better from there. … I'm really just working on being explosive and, yes, hitting the holes. I think over these last two years I haven't done that."

Because he hasn't done so, Bush has been a good rusher but not a great one. And because of his injuries (he endured two operations on his left knee last year) the Saints have elevated the role of fellow running back Mike Bell, who joined the team last November after being cut by Denver. At 6-foot-1, 219 pounds, he's the hammer Bush isn't.

Despite the danger he presents as a kick returner, Bush is dangerously close to being labeled a bust as a running back – particularly given how high we was drafted and, yes, the hype that accompanied his arrival.

But only dangerously close. Not there yet, especially if the hard work he put in during the preseason to become an NFL back comes to fruition. Meaning? If he stops zigzagging at the first sign of trouble, and instead trusts the plays as they're designed, runs hard toward the hole and follows his blockers.

He was indeed that guy in the Saints' first preseason game, then sat out the rest of the fake season nursing a strained right calf. He says he's fit and ready for the Saints' season-opener Sunday against Detroit.

It's time for Bush to make as much of a mark during the season as he does during the summer.

It's time for him to be seen as much on the highlight shows as he is on the celebrity shows.

It's time for him be a smarter, tougher, healthier NFL-ready version of that guy – now.

AP photo

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