Reggie Bush recalls hilarious confrontation with Drew Brees after throw led him into big hit

Every now and then there’s a hit in football that you never forget. Reggie Bush certainly would prefer if he wasn’t involved in one of them.

The former USC and New Orleans Saints star was just a rookie when he experienced his ‘Welcome to the NFL’ moment. It’s a moment that Bush says he’ll never forget. And one he probably doesn’t care to revisit too often.

But on Robert Griffin III‘s podcast, Bush relived the hit. It came during the divisional round of the 2006 NFL playoffs, when New Orleans hosted the Philadelphia Eagles. Right away, the Eagles notched a tone setter when Sheldon Brown blew up Reggie Bush in the backfield on a simple swing pass.

“I was feeling death,” Bush said, as Griffin rewatched the clip on the air.

Reggie Bush describing the time Drew Brees threw him into the hardest hit in his NFL Career is worth 3 min of your time 😂

“I ain’t even wait until after the game. I was like naw listen up Drew. DON’T DO THAT SH*T AGAIN.” pic.twitter.com/NrmU3rKyp1

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) October 2, 2024

Immediately after the hit — well, not immediately, first Bush had to recollect his innards and make sure they were arranged properly — the rookie running back turned to his quarterback, Drew Brees.

“Oh yeah. No, no, no. I had a talk,” Reggie Bush explained. “I had a man-to-man discussion with Drew. Two plays later, all right? I didn’t even wait till after the game. I was like, ‘Nah, listen up, Drew. Don’t do that s*** again, you understand me? I can’t handle no more of them.’ That was a grenade. I got hit with a grenade. Bro, that’s a cannonball.”

The lightning to Deuce McAllister‘s thunder, Bush was a key part of New Orleans’ playoff run in 2006. It was the beginning of a new era under Sean Payton, one that would see the franchise win its first Super Bowl just a few years later.

First, though, Reggie Bush had to recover.

“He hit me so hard that when I landed on the ground it hadn’t registered to my brain yet that there was no oxygen inside my stomach,” Bush said. “So I hopped back up like you just saw. ‘He hopped back up, though. But he went back down.’ I’m crawling for air, though. I’m crawling looking for air. In that moment I’m like where is the air? Is it over there? I’ve got to go get it. It’s over there, like I can’t f breathe right now.

“It was one of the hardest hits I’ve ever experienced. I will never forget it. I never want my kids to have to go through it. I’m like, ‘Listen, son, keep playing basketball. Keep shooting them hoops. Work on that jump shot, because not everybody can survive that right there.’ That was a full speed car crash and I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. I got destroyed and, again, this was a real moment. Like when I’m crawling, it’s getting hazy, my eyes, because I can’t breathe. You ever get the wind knocked out of you? It feels like you’re going to die. It feels like death. So now it’s getting hazy, I can’t breathe. I’m like, ‘All right, this is it right here. I’m about to go right here on the football field. I’m about to die right here. This is it, this is what I asked for. I’m out.'”

Reggie Bush would go on to have a fantastic career in the NFL, spending five years in New Orleans, two in Miami, two in Detroit, one in San Francisco and one in Buffalo. An 11-year career with plenty of productivity.

Bush totaled 5,490 yards rushing and 36 touchdowns, to go along with 3,598 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns. He scored four times on punt returns.

But suffice it to say, for a minute there, Reggie Bush probably felt like his career was over.

“It was one of those plays where you just never forget it,” Bush said. “Never forget how that hit felt. Thank God I never got hit like that again, ever. … Yeah, Drew was very apologetic afterwards. Luckily I was a rookie, so when you’re a rookie you can take hits like that. If I was at the end of my career, that would have ended my career.”