Instant Zillionaire

[Don Wassall]

He's yet to play a down in the NFL, but Reggie Bush already has endorsement deals with Adidas, EA Sports, Hummer, Subway, and Pepsi. The Adidas deal alone is worth a reported $5 million a year.


No, there's no agenda to promote black athletes. LeBron James signed $80 million worth of corporate deals before playing in the NBA. Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie were similarly set for life before turning pro.


"You have to have the package to be a highly sought after endorser," proclaims Dean Bonham, a sports-marketing consultant. "You have to be a winner, have a personna, an interesting back story, and it doesn't hurt if you're a nice-looking guy or gal."


Oh, and it doesn't hurt at all to be black. Smile, pretend to be friendly, and Corporate America will throw money at you.

 

[Triad]

Is there a white athlete with endorsements similar to the above? I can think of commercials for Peyton Manning and Lance Armstrong.

Has there been a white get that kind of money thrown at him without proving himself first?

 

[white tornado]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/

 

[sport historian]

I remember a TV special on O.J. Simpson in 1969 just before he started his rookie season. One of the main themes of the program was the unprecedented endorsement deals O.J. was getting. On camera, Simpson said, "It was an advantage to be black." I clearly remember him saying that.

He was saying that being black helped to attract the corporate offers he had received. A few years later, I saw an inteview were Simpson said that major corporations were seeking to hire and promote more blacks. "Every company was putting out those memorandums," O.J. said.

It occured to me that one of these days, we will see a reprise of the Simpson Trial Farce. I wonder who the next Commercial Star will be who kills somebody. Sooner or later, it will be something more serious than rape or assault.

 

[Don Wassall]

I was looking for that link earlier today. 20 of the 50 are black NBA players. Only 19 whites total from all sports make the list.

 

[white is right]

Well maybe Reggie needs the money for his pharmaceutical supplements. He is on the cover of ESPN right now and is huge and vascular. He always looked smallish as a player at USC, now he looks like a juice bag.......

 

[Colonel_Reb]

They can do wonders with Photoshop these days. The pics from training camp in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger don't look too beefy. Seems like the Saints are just trying to beat the Mississippi heat.

 

[Don Wassall]

This pic is on ESPN's homepage right now (DE Mario Williams on left, Bush on right):

 

[SeaJim]

What are the odds Reggie Bush will be a complete flop?

 

[white is right]

He may all of sudden become injury prone(a side effect from juicing and getting hit by bigger stronger players). I think if he can take the hits he will be a very good player. But I don't see superstar.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

He may have juiced a little, but his legs still look pretty small to me.

 

[Don Wassall]

The current print issue of Sports Illustrated has a full page ad on Page 2 featuring Reggie Bush (Subway), followed by a full page ad on Page 18 featuring Reggie Bush (combo ad sponsored by Pepsi, the NFL and yardbyyard.com), followed by a page and a half article (pgs. 20-21) titled "Saint Reggie's Passion." I didn't notice any full-page ads featuring white athletes, but how could that be? Isn't the media "owned and controlled by whites"?

 

[White Shogun]

Reggie Bush's debut against the Dallas Cowboys was less than spectacular, to say the least.

He carried 4 times for a total of 7 yards, with his longest run at 9 yards. That means that on his other three carries he netted the Saints a total of -2 yards.

He had 2 receptions for a total of 14 yards, with his longest catch at 11 yards. Not a bad gain.. but that means his other reception netted only +3 yards.

Here is the ESPN recap comments concerning Bush's performance:

Reggie Bush spiced things up with a nine-yard run and an 11-yard gain on a third-and-2 screen, both on the final drive of the first half. He finished with seven yards on four carries, 14 yards on two receptions -- and disappointment that the starters didn't do better.

"This isn't the old Saints any more," he said. "We need to take three-and-outs personal. We need to change our way of thinking. We need to keep our defense off the field. We didn't do our job as an offense."

So Reggie's measly 1.8 yards per carry average 'spiced' things up, huh? And he is disappointed the 'starters' didn't perform better? Gee, thanks, Reggie.

Reggie says "This isn't the old Saints any more." Like he would know.

 

[Triad]

Bush's below average performance in the Dallas game was one of the most hyped segments on Sportscenter that night. They went on and on about how great his cut was on his "giant" 9 yard run. Bush made a nice cut on both his run and his reception, nice yes, extraordinary no. They showed each 3-4 times in one segment ,then brought Salisbury in to comment on how special his run was???

I like Bush and his personality and I don't believe he'll need this artificial inflation of his skills this year but for some reason ESPN does. One possible explanantion is with all the endorsement money on Bush some higher-ups must not want him to do anything but dominate in the NFL.

 

[Jofreidr_1488]

What are the odds Reggie Bush will be a complete flop?

I heard somewhere that the average career length for an NFL RB is three seasons.

If Bush only plays three seasons then he will most likely be considered a flop.

These players like Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders that play near 10+ years are big-time exceptions to the rule.