Latest Move by Bush Doesn’t Fool Anyone

Reggie Bush spent three seasons baffling would-be tacklers with speed and an array of unpredictable moves that often defied logic and the laws of nature.

But on Thursday the Heisman Trophy winner did something completely expected: He announced that he would skip his final season of eligibility and make himself available for the NFL draft.

“It’s an exciting day,” Bush, 20, said during a news conference on campus. “This has been something I’ve dreamed of since my early days of Pop Warner.”

Bush, projected as the possible top pick in the April draft, made his announcement a day after fellow junior tailback LenDale White said he would turn pro. The two gained a combined 6,328 yards rushing and scored an NCAA-record 99 touchdowns in three years. This season, they combined for more yards rushing -- 3,042 -- than any other tandem in NCAA history.

Bush’s departure, along with those of White and senior quarterback Matt Leinart, ends one of the most glorious chapters in USC history. The Trojans won two consecutive Associated Press national championships and fell just short of winning a third, losing to Texas in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4.

Last year, Leinart passed up the opportunity to turn pro and returned for a final college season. But the 2004 Heisman winner said Bush made the right move.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Leinart said. “The type of player he is and what he’s been able to do ... he’s in perfect position.”

Bush and White were foremost among several Trojan juniors contemplating whether to declare for the draft as Sunday’s deadline approaches. Flanker Steve Smith said he would return for a final season of eligibility, but offensive tackle Winston Justice said he would announce his decision today and offensive guard Fred Matua said he would decide by Saturday. Safety Darnell Bing also is mulling his decision.

Last year, four members of North Carolina’s national-championship basketball team left for the NBA before completing their eligibility. But the potential for a mass exodus by USC football players is not regarded as a harbinger of things to come in the sport.

Agent Leigh Steinberg described USC’s football situation as “an aberration” that was unlikely to be repeated at other schools any time soon.

“To use a weather parallel, this is a perfect storm,” Steinberg said. “This much offensive talent may never be assembled again much less leave a team at one time.”

USC Coach Pete Carroll typically advocates that players complete their college eligibility unless they are regarded as the top players at their positions in the draft.

During bowl preparations, Carroll held a seminar for his players to educate them about the pros and cons of leaving school early.

After the season, Carroll recommended to Bush that he turn pro if he was emotionally ready and wanted to do so.

Carroll was not present for Thursday’s announcement at Heritage Hall because he was attending a funeral for the father of freshman linebacker Rey Maualuga. But in a statement, Carroll said Bush was “ready for the next level.”

“He’s such a special player, a once-in-a-lifetime talent,” the coach added. “He’s a game-changer, with the speed, instincts, vision and competitiveness. He’s just so much fun to watch.”

Bush said agent Joel Segal would handle his NFL contract negotiations. The Houston Texans have the No. 1 pick in a draft that also includes Leinart and Texas quarterback Vince Young, who announced earlier this week that he would forgo his senior season and turn pro.

Charley Casserly, the Texans’ general manager, told reporters Thursday that Bush “gives you a touchdown-maker and another playmaker on offense.”

But Casserly did not say whether the Texans would draft Bush.

“You have a real strong top of the draft,” Casserly said. “I think it’s much stronger than it was a year ago, so what’s that mean?

“It means we’re going to get a real good player if we keep the pick; and if we trade the pick we’ve got certainly a very valuable commodity to trade.”

Regardless, Bush appears assured of a multimillion-dollar guaranteed contract.

“I don’t think it has sunk in yet,” he said of the payday that awaits, “and I don’t think it will till I get that first check.”

Bush said he would have “no problem” joining the Texans and that he was looking forward to taking care of his family. He also said he was about two semesters shy of earning a degree from USC and that he would complete the work in the future.

Bush had surgery on his left shoulder before spring practice and indicated during the season that he might need another procedure after the Trojans’ last game. But he said Thursday that his shoulder was fine and that he was ready to prove his durability.

“I’ll be excited at the opportunity just to prove all the doubters wrong and show that I can be a every-down back and that I can be that guy you can depend on,” said Bush, who is listed at 6 feet and 200 pounds.

After the news conference, Bush said he did not think that he and White would start a trend of juniors leaving early for the NFL.

“You can’t really compare our situations to anybody else,” Bush said.

But there are possible changes in the works in the NFL that could encourage college players to make the jump to the pros as soon as they can. The league is locked in negotiations with the NFL Players Assn. to extend the collective bargaining agreement, which expires after the 2007 season.

Because of the uncertainty of how salaries will be affected -- and whether rookie salaries will be capped -- some young players might choose to get out when the getting’s good.

“My whole thing is, if you’re the No. 1 or No. 2 player in the draft at your position and you can go in the top 15, now’s the time to leave,” agent Gary Wichard said. “... For me, you’ve got to get up out of Dodge when you’ve got a shot.”

The NFL would never publicly say that, of course, in part because it has a vested interest in college football, which produces so much of its talent. It is pro football’s de facto farm system, one that not only prepares players for the next level, but markets them and turns the best players into household names even before they have played a down in the pros. Although the NFL has a developmental league in NFL Europe, it’s small time in comparison to the multibillion-dollar enterprise that is college football.

The league has a rule precluding players from making themselves available for the draft until they are at least three years removed from high school, a rule former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett unsuccessfully challenged in court two years ago.

Also, if too many undergraduates try and fail to make it in pro football, those failures could encourage like-minded players to stay in school to enhance their chances of eventually making a pro team.

“It’s the effort to find an equilibrium,” said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. “That’s why the NFL does things such as assisting college players by assessing their draft potential. The league wants to arm these young men with realistic expectations of their value. Sometimes these decisions aren’t made with good information, and that just raises the possibility that bad decisions will be made.”

No one is saying that Bush made the wrong decision.

He leaves with two national championships, having won the Heisman by a landslide in December. In 13 games this season, he led the nation with 2,890 all-purpose yards, an average of 222.3 per game. He also led USC in rushing with 1,740 yards, averaged 8.7 yards a carry, caught 37 passes for 478 yards and scored 19 touchdowns.

“He’ll take that talent to the NFL and wow them there as a runner, as a receiver and as a returner,” Carroll said. “Now, the Reggie Bush Show goes to Sundays.”

Bush said he would still keep an eye on the Trojans.

“They won’t be missing a beat at all,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing them compete for another national championship next year. I’ll be right there on the sideline supporting them in my jersey.”