Reggie Bush ranked No. 2 college football player of the 21st century by The Athletic
Reggie Bush ranked No. 2 college football player of the 21st century by The Athletic USC's Reggie Bush continues to receive his due from college football historians and scholars
Recently, The Athletic published rankings of college football's greatest teams, players, coaches, programs, and games of the 21st century (so far). USC was well-represented in the greatest teams rankings, with the 2004 Trojans coming in at No. 5. On the top players list, USC was once again featured prominently, with star running back Reggie Bush coming in at No. 2 on the list.
Bush's accolades at USC certainly made him more than worthy of inclusion. He won two national championships, a Heisman Trophy, a Doak Walker Award, was twice named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, and was a two-time first-team All-American.
Here is what The Athletic's Bruce Feldman had to say about Bush:
"Arguably the most electrifying player in college football history, Bush helped the Trojans win national titles in his first two seasons and then won the Heisman in his third. In 2005, he averaged 223 all-purpose yards per game, including a memorable Saturday night when he went for 513 against Fresno State. His knack for game-changing plays was uncanny. 'He single-handedly won us some games,' said [Ed] Orgeron, a former USC assistant.
"When I asked experts for their take on the best player of the 2000s, Bush's name came up by far the most. 'The only perfect grade I ever gave to a college player was Reggie,' Daniel Jeremiah said. 'He was a jaw-dropping college player. He was so much better than everybody else on the field, it wasn't even close. You went out of your way to watch him. He was literally must-see TV.'"
Interestingly, Bush was the only USC player in the rankings, with none of USC's three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks making the cut. Matt Leinart, Bush's USC teammate and one of two quarterbacks this century to win a Heisman and multiple national championships, was a particularly glaring admission.
In addition, a strong case could have been made for two USC star safeties from the 2000s, Troy Polamalu and Taylor Mays, who racked up a combined five first-team All-America honors. So, while Bush certainly deserves his flowers, many USC fans will feel as though the Trojans did not get the recognition they deserved in the rankings.
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He's no Suzuki or Judge, obviously, and he's missed all season with elbow injuries. But Stanton is the majors' active leader in home runs, and only four players in the 2000s can match him in both homers (429) and OPS (.871) — Pujols, A-Rod, Ortiz and Cabrera. They all got a lot more than 19 votes. David Ortiz hit 531 home runs in the 2000s. He broke a fabled curse, won three championships and made it to Cooperstown on his first try. He even had a bridge named after him in Boston. Yet he's still not our readers' pick for best DH of the 2000s, thanks to that Shohei Ohtani guy. As stupendous as Big Papi was, he didn't win an MVP award. Ohtani's won three. He stole 16 bases in 17 seasons. Ohtani stole 59 last year, while also bashing 54 homers. His career OPS, a mighty .937, still falls a bit short of Ohtani's, .952. (And Ortiz didn't pitch, either.) So congrats to Ohtani, who can add this prestigious honor to the many others he's collected in a career like no other. Down-ballot surprise: No love for Edwin Encarnación. Edwin Encarnación finished last among our eight candidates, with less than 1 percent of the vote, but what a career. He hit 424 home runs with an .846 OPS. The only guys who can match those numbers in the 2000s: Pujols, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Cabrera and Stanton, as mentioned above, plus Nelson Cruz and Adam Dunn. And among those sluggers, only Pujols had fewer strikeouts than Encarnación. (Next five: Roy Halladay, 46.7; Zack Greinke, 22.3; Jacob deGrom, 20.0; CC Sabathia, 17.1; Félix Hernández, 15.2) This was a tough one, in a way, because Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez both have Cy Young awards that start with '19' and '20'. They starred in the World Series in the 2000s and posted winning percentages over .600 in this quarter century. All-time legends, for sure. But, man oh man, what about Roy Halladay? 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(Next two: Billy Wagner, 23.1; Aroldis Chapman, 20.4) How about that? A Yankee and a Padre. You were expecting maybe Jonathan Albaladejo and Jeremy Fikac? MLB named its reliever of the year awards after Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. They're the only guys with 500 career saves — and both topped 600! They didn't do it all in this quarter century, of course, but both had an unmistakable aura and our readers picked up on it. Down-ballot surprise: Craig Kimbrel got nearly 500 more votes than Kenley Jansen. The most similar player in baseball history to Craig Kimbrel, according to Baseball Reference, is Kenly Jansen. The most similar player in baseball history to Kenley Jansen? Craig Kimbrel, naturally. They both reached the majors in 2010. Their ERAs and strikeout totals are nearly identical. They've both pitched for the Braves, Dodgers and Red Sox (among other teams). Jansen has more career saves (458 to 440), and might become the last pitcher to reach 500. Yet it's Kimbrel — currently in the minors with Atlanta — who resonated more with our readers, with 1,468 votes to Jansen's 941. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Elsa, Nick Laham, Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
