According to a report by Yahoo! Sports columnist Jason Cole, the reason why the Texans passed on Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL Draft was partly because of the NCAA’s potential investigation of him at USC and partly because of former Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells.
Unknown fact: People around the Houston Texans often say the specter of an NCAA investigation of former USC running back Reggie Bush(notes) had much to do with the decision by the team to take defensive end Mario Williams(notes) over Bush. Bush scared the Texans by not returning calls right away after news of possible violations was broken by Yahoo! Sports. That’s partially true, but the clincher in the deal was a bit of advice from then Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, a high-placed NFL source said recently. Parcells weighed in on the matter after being contacted by Texans owner Bob McNair.
…and?
I wish Cole went into more detail as to what Parcells said to McNair, although obviously he didn’t have that information. Either way, it’s interesting to hear that Parcells shared his insight on the matter with another team’s owner. I’m not surprised that McNair took his advice, however.
Parcells is widely known around the league as being one of the best talent evaluators to have ever worked in the NFL. It’s said that he can determine the strengths and weaknesses of a prospect within minutes of seeing the player workout, which is one of the many reasons he’s had so much success over the years.
Of course, Bush’s athletic talent has never been questioned (outside of his inability to run consistently between the tackles). So if Parcells did weigh in, maybe he convinced McNair that Bush wouldn’t be worth the money and/or eventual trouble that could occur down the road once the NCAA investigated his situation at USC. (That said, it’s not like the investigation has had an impact on his NFL career.)
Either way, if this report is true, it once again shows what kind of impact Parcells has made on the NFL throughout his career.
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