SohoMeetsSolo: Hot Man of the Week 9/14

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Hot Man of the Week 9/14

**WARNING - the photos that follow may cause hyperventilating, excessive salivation and/or permanent eye bulging, so don't blame me if you keep looking LOL! This man is BEYOND fine!!!**

This week's hot guy is my favorite football player (for more reasons than his on-field abilities LOL), Reggie Bush! He's not only a very talented player & extremely good looking, but he's very active in his community. He came to New Orleans (and the Saints) shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. He immediately began to help with restoring the city, donating not only his money, but his time! He was ecstatic to be able to help the Saints complete the 2005 season on the winning side, saying it was the least he could do! Gotta' love this guy; he's a classy!!

Reginald Alfred Bush was born on March 2, 1985 in San Diego, CA (6 feet tall, 203 lbs). He attended Helix High School in La Mesa, CA. During his high school career at Helix, he rushed for 4,995 yards (12.0 avg.) and scored 450 points. He ran for 1,691 yards on 140 carries (12.1 avg.) with 27 TDs in 2002, despite missing four games with a broken wrist - talk about perseverance, eh! Reggie placed third in the 2002 California 100-meters final & was a 2002 Parade Magazine All-American and USA Today All-USA selection. Reggie left high school as most highly recruited running back!

Reggie was a Political Science major at the University of Southern California. From 2003-2005 where he played in 39 games with only 15 starts, but finished 10th in NCAA Division I-A history with 6,551 all-purpose yards, a school career record. He finished his college career with 3,169 yards (seventh in school history) and 25 TDs on 433 carries (7.3 avg.) and 1,301 yards with 13 TDs on 95 catches (13.7 avg.) In 2004, he was named the AP Sportsman of the Year. In 2005, he was named the Associated Press Player of the Year, and added Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, as well as the Doak Walker Award! Reggie earned first-team All-American honors from the Associated Press, Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association, Walter Camp, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated (WOW)!!! Just the fifth player to ever be named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year twice (second consecutive and the first non-QB to achieve the feat in 20 seasons), Reggie set a school record for freshmen with 1,330 all-purpose yards! He was fifth in 2004 Heisman Trophy vote and a near-unanimous All-America selection and in 2005, he took the coveted Heisman Trophy home!

On January 12, 2006, Reggie elected to forgo his senior season at USC and declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft. Everyone thought that he would be drafted first, especially because he was the Heisman Trophy winner, and go to the Houston Texans, but they shocked us all picking Mario Williams! Reggie went 2nd in the overall draft & was picked up by the New Orleans Saints (YAY SAINTS!!)! This was a blessings for the Saints, so "THANKS, Houston" for NOT selecting Reggie LOL! Reggie struggled a bit in his first season as a Saint but he became more productive and integral to the Saints' success. Midway the season, on November 12, 2006, he rushed for his first touchdown from scrimmage on a reverse against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Reggie tied the Saints' single game touchdown record, held by Joe Horn, by scoring 4 touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers. He gained 168 all-purpose yards as he sparked the Saints to their 8th win of the season. He finished the midway point of the season with 46 receptions, the most of any running back in the NFL. In 2006, he made the Pro Football Weekly/PFWA All-Rookie Team, was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month (December), NFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 13), NFC Special Teams Player of the Week (Week Five) and NFL Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week (Week 1). He signed a six-year contract on August 1, 2006.

Entering his third season, the elusive running back has needed little time to establish himself as one of the NFL’s most versatile and exciting players. In his brief career, the multi-talented Reggie Bush has posted 2,533 total yards – 1,146 rushing, 1,159 receiving and 228 on punt returns. Of his 15 touchdowns, he has rushed for 10, caught four and returned a punt for another. He has also added three two-point conversions. Despite being forced to miss the final four games of 2007 with a knee injury, in NFL history only teammate Marques Colston has caught more passes in his first two seasons than Bush’s 161 (73 last season, 88 as a rookie). He led New Orleans in rushing last year with 581 yards and accounted for 56 first downs (32 rushing, 24 receiving). Before suffering the knee injury last season, Bush had 848 yards of offense in the nine games where he was the full-time starter at running back. Since arriving in New Orleans, he has set an NFL record for catches by a rookie running back (88) and set an NFL postseason record for the longest play from scrimmage with an 88-yard touchdown catch-and-run vs. Chicago in the 2006 NFC Championship Game. Bush has also set or equaled club single-game records for touchdowns (four, tied), rushing TDs (three, tied) and receiving yards by a running back (131). Drafted second overall in 2006, he was the only player in the NFL in his first season to score touchdowns running, receiving and on a punt return.

Reggie became heavily involved in the community immediately after being selected by New Orleans in the NFL Draft, donating $86,000 to resurface the field at Tad Gormley Stadium so high school football could be played again at a stadium & $50,000 to help keep Holy Rosary High School, a local Catholic school for students with learning disabilities, from closing. He also donated 12 Hummer vehicles to New Orleans, state and government agencies, became a regional spokesman for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and his corporate sponsorships all include charitable components for programs in the New Orleans region!