NFL conspiracy?

[RAM]

for some reason i had a thought the other day about the NFL draft and wondered if it was fixed. i may be crazy. probably am.

the reason being and in no way am i saying that new orleans doesn't need or deserve reggie bush. but, when i think about it i wonder if the draft was fixed to benefit new orleans and the NFL's image.

why else would houston pass him up in the draft? they can use all the excuses in the world but i can't remember a weirder pick than that in recent history. no team in their right mind would pass on him IMO. and the texans sure could have used him.

it would just make sense to me if the nfl "persuaded" houston to pass on him so he would go to new orleans making a great headline and probably the feel good story of the year. the NFL is pretty smart about media relations.

anyhow again i'm not saying he doesn't belong with the saints before everyone gets all freaky. and i'm not saying it's bad, i just wonder if they would try to pull something off like that. after all it seems to be working out to be a media relations dream not to mention the dome is sold out for every game this year. would the nfl do it to brighten it's image and sell more tickets?

[ronmexico]

I know where you are going with this, it kind of makes sense but I just think that its the Texans being as dumb as they are. Hehe, they are REALLY DUMB. Take the highest IQ of a person banned from mvpmods, start subtracting the IQ's of everyone else banned from mvpmods.com and you get within 100 of the old GM Charlie Casserly's IQ.

[Timp]

I hope the NFL wouldn't do something like that...

On another note, Texas thought they had a runningback in Domanick Davis, but he's done for the year, so now it's really easy to second guess Houston.

[Dom2662]

You may be right man. It gets me thinking...

[RAM]

I hope the NFL wouldn't do something like that...

On another note, Texas thought they had a runningback in Domanick Davis, but he's done for the year, so now it's really easy to second guess Houston.

yeah BUT, any team who had an opportunity to get him would i don't care who they had at running back. either he would be great making the other older back expendable or trade bait or at the least a solid backup or tandem team. or if he was so-so i'm sure there would be takers willing to trade players away to give him a "chance" with his "potential" in their system.

anyhow i googled "nfl reggie bush conspiracy" and got a few hits on the same thing i thought of. i may be nuts but, at least i'm not alone.

[brutushayesosu]

well if you want to think conspiracy then you might what to throw in the idea that govt. was involved. New Orleans, even before Katrina, was a very poor city. Having a figure like Reggie Bush, who we all can agree will be a great NFL player, has the potential of saving a dying city. Even as im watching this U2/Green Day concert on ESPN I think that it does make a lot sense. Houston takes in the New Orleanians that were displaced and give back to them Reggie Bush. The two cities will be forever linked.

On a side not.....Browns are now on the clock.

[Rabbit4Heisman]

Maybe ESPN Classic will do a Top 5 Reason You Can't Blame.. on the Texans.

[RAM]

wow. i'm finding that there's actually quite a bit of speculation regarding this theory. here's one of the better written, more thought out reasonings on it taken from http://saintsdoggle.blogspot.com/2006/07/s...educed-by.html:

WAS BUSH-TO-NO AN NFL CONSPIRACY?

There has been a lot said since the April NFL draft about how in the world Reggie Bush fell into the Saints' laps. One line of thinking argues that the Texans simply liked Mario Williams better, and that with Gary Kubiak at the helm, they don't need a star RB to succeed on offense. The other side contends that the NFL had its hands in the Texans' top pick, so that Bush would be taken by New Orleans.

It's an interesting conspiracy theory. The potential for NFL involvement is two-fold. There are two situations that emerge if Bush goes to the Saints as opposed to the Texans:

(1) Bush brings massive fan and business support to New Orleans, thus ensuring that the team remains there. Bush further helps lead the team to victories, ensuring same.

(2) Bush comes to a team that still doesn't get sufficient fan and business support by Benson's standards. The NFL wants a team in LA, and Bush is already a star in LA, making the Saints an easy candidate for relocation (and an instant hot ticket in LA when they get there). Plus, the price tag for a prospective buyer goes up with Bush included in the package.

Couple that with the reduction in exit penalty charges ($81M to $61M), and the league sure seems to be hedging its bets.

None of this would have been possible if the Texans had taken Bush. The Saints would have selected AJ Hawk instead, and it would have killed both (1) the potential increase in fan support to keep the team in NO, and (2) the potential relocation value to LA.

So was there a conspiracy? I don't know...but it sure is funny how clean all this fits together - especially considering Domanick Davis is still nursing a bad knee that hasn't healed right after surgery. He didn't participate in minicamps and is a questionmark for training camp, leaving the Texans thin at RB. Their other options are Antowain Smith (age), Vernand Morency (coach's doghouse plus injury) and Wali Lundy (rookie).

But the Texans were already well-stocked on the defensive line, and had just signed FA Anthony Weaver (Baltimore) to play DE. Plus, their first round pick in '05 was a DE (Travis Johnson). Now, with Mario Williams also in the mix, the team is overstocked on the defensive line...and understocked at RB.

Plus, if Casserly really wanted to get into the NFL front office, is it conceivable that he encouraged the Texans to take Mario over Reggie for NFL purposes?

There's a lot of smoke...

hmmm...

[DoubleD]

Let's not forget Clevland winning the lottery for the first draft pick in 2003 to be able to get Lebron James, who has played in the area his entire life, even thought they didn't have the lowest record.

[Bama]

Let's not forget Clevland winning the lottery for the first draft pick in 2003 to be able to get Lebron James, who has played in the area his entire life, even thought they didn't have the lowest record.

...but it's a lottery after all.

[ronmexico]

...but it's a lottery after all.

You can rig it. Pick the icy ball last...

[kinghernandez]

If you think about it almost all sports have something like this going on. But pro sports is a business and the bottom line is really all they care about. Bush going to NO was probably planned well in advance so they could set up this dramatic return to the Superdome. If he went elsewhere then I'm sure the ratings would drop dramatically. Look at all the ads and promos. "Bush and the Saints return to New Orleans." It certanily would be different if it was Mario Willams and the Saints.

[RAM]

ok good maybe i'm not crazy after all.

[bushywhacker]

As a native Houstonian, I can tell you this city still to this day cannot believe the Texans passed on Reggie Bush. Mario Williams has made absolutely no impact on the D-line...it still sucks.

My neighbor works for the Texans and every time I see him I say, "Did we pick Reggie Bush yet?" He just shakes his head and gives me the "I can't believe we did that." look.

We could forget about it if only Mario would sack someone...anyone...sack himself...but he's done nothing...nada...zip!

:starwars:

[stecropper]

I think the scenario that played out back when Ely Manning was drafted shoots mega holes in a NFL conspiracy theory ...............

[kinghernandez]

The best example is how the NFL schedules. There is no reason for the Colts to play the Giants. They match up all the AFC NFC games by the best rating matchups they can find.

[RAM]

I think the scenario that played out back when Ely Manning was drafted shoots mega holes in a NFL conspiracy theory ...............

not really all it really did was become another huge press event for the NFL.

and besides that wouldn't be the first time an athlete refused to play for a certain team. the new orleans situation on the other hand is a totally different situation.

[Bama]

The best example is how the NFL schedules. There is no reason for the Colts to play the Giants. They match up all the AFC NFC games by the best rating matchups they can find.

so what? I enjoy it. I'm sure most people do. This isn't like baseball where interleague is special (evil)

[kaygdanimal]

The best example is how the NFL schedules. There is no reason for the Colts to play the Giants. They match up all the AFC NFC games by the best rating matchups they can find.

Actually, the NFL Schedule is following a system that has been in use for a while now.

I believe they have until 2008 before they have to decide to keep the same scheduling format or change it up. I'll find my book that explains the whole NFL Scheduling format and it should clear it up as to why the Colts are playing the Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins this year. The same goes for the Jaguars, Titans, and the Texans.

However, I would not be suprised if the NFL did set up the draft with Eli Manning so that by this time in his young career, he could be facing off against his older brother ... aka the Brother Bowl.

They devised a scheduling system so that it is easier to schedule year-in and year-out. That is why you know what the schedule is real early. They have the system, all they need to figure out is the dates and times. They've cut out the whole "who's playing who" portion of the scheduling by creating this system.

Back to the Reggie Bush Theory, I would not be suprised to see that be true.

[Mav3rek]

yeah, the nfl uses a schedule similar to the way the MLB does interleague play. Each year a division will play a specific division from the other conference. For example, last year the AFC North played the NFC North, this year the AFC North plays the AFC South. In the MLB last year the NL Central played the AL East, this year the NL Central played he AL Central....and so forth and so on..

edit: I forgot to metion, the NFL does the same thing within each of the conferences also, (example) the AFC North plays the NFC South, and the AFC West this year, and that accounts for 8 games, the rest are division games with the AFC North playing each other..