Reggie Bush Fought the NCAA So These Kids Could Get Paid. He Wouldn’t Change a Thing.

Few players defined the game of football like Reggie Bush. A human highlight reel at USC, the two-time national champion and 2005 Heisman Trophy winner mesmerized fans with his rare speed and agility. During his 11-year NFL career, he was a First Team All-Pro selection in 2008 and won a championship in Super Bowl XLIV with the New Orleans Saints.

​With a fresh college football season on the horizon, Bush remains as passionate about the game as ever, knowing the very NIL opportunities transforming today’s stars were forged in the shadow of his own long fight with the NCAA. He spoke with The Root about why NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deals are a game-changer in college sports and the role he played in bringing compensation to collegiate athletes.

Bush noted that the deals afford many athletes financial independence they wouldn’t otherwise have while still in college.

​”Looking at where college football is right now, I’m just excited to see these kids holding the power in their hands. The dynamic needed to shift, and I love that players can now provide for themselves and their families—whether that’s paying bills, covering rent, or even buying a house,” Bush told The Root. “Those things are so important for athletes while they’re playing in college. None of this existed when I played, but now we’re seeing just how much control they have over their own destinies.”

​”Ultimately, that’s what this is all about,” he continued. “It is about allowing these athletes to take control of their futures and earn enough to support their families much earlier in life.”

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The decorated running back recognizes that his otherworldly talent would have commanded massive financial value in today’s college football environment but he has “zero” regrets that modern players are reaping the benefits that he fought for.

​”We were all broke and trying to get to that next level,” said Bush. “We were still striving hard because we knew that college football was not the final stop. We knew there was another league, another stepping point we wanted to get to.”

Bush’s passion for seeing athletes cash in on their influence is now the premise of a paid endorsement of his own. He appears alongside head coach Lane Kiffin and NFL veteran Jameis Winston in DoorDash’s “Don’t Fan for Free” campaign, which flips the script on traditional NIL deals by extending rewards to the fans who bring the energy every weekend.

The campaign “is rewarding fans for being passionate and doing the things that you know fans do: showing up for games, being loud, cheering, supporting, traveling for road games,” Bush said. “As a former football player myself, I understand the importance of having fans there to bring the energy for games. So I love the fact that fans are now receiving something back in this era of NIL.”

​Bush described the upcoming college season as “unpredictable,” with so many moving pieces, including the transfer portal and players remaining eligible until they’re in their mid-20s. These factors have drastically transformed the college football landscape.

​”Seeing all the recent changes—players transferring from team to team, coaches stepping into new environments—has been wild. But the headliner that shocked me most is that players drafted into the NFL, who either didn’t make the roster or didn’t like their fit, can now go back to play another year of college ball,” Bush explained. “Seeing how college football is handling all these shifting dynamics, with guys playing six, seven, or eight years in college… to me, that’s the craziest part.”

​Bush also noted that roster instability due to the transfer portal, the 12-team playoff, and NIL has virtually erased dominant teams of the past.

“We may never see teams like our USC team, Miami, or Alabama again. Those teams that were just stacked with five-star players at every position,” he explained.

“That may never happen again because now…kids don’t have to sit and wait. Our second-string guys were five stars, and our third-string players were four stars,” Bush added. “So I think the different dynamic that we see now in college football – they’re gonna go to a program that’s gonna pay them the most money.”

​While reflecting on the current crop of college talent, Bush admits that while the sport is overflowing with athleticism, he has yet to watch a player whose skill set feels like a true mirror image of his own.

​”I don’t see players taking on multiple positions the way I did. I was a running back, receiver, punt returner, and kick returner—I just didn’t want to leave the field. Now, guys excel at one specific position, but they aren’t trying to do it all,” Bush said. “My mindset was: put the ball in my hands anywhere on the field and watch me score. My versatility was how I built my value. I proved I could make plays from anywhere.”