The Evolution of Bush's Role...
If we were, say, 3-5 after today, would we still be essentially apologizing for and even excusing fully his near-moribound play?
No. Even if we were at 5-3 today, the dissenters would be getter louder and louder. But we're 6-2 so, yeah, Reggie's getting a pass.
Interesting you mention Bowie over Jordan but that's not only a different sport but a different scenario. Bowie was a gamble but not so much on what kind of player he'd be but more of a physical problem, IIRC. (He was a nice kid, too. My friend and I took her grandmother to see him play in HS because she was a big fan and he, a HS kid!, very graciously signed his autograph for her.)
But I digress. More recently, I remember the Payton Manning v. Ryan Leaf debate. This time Leaf being more of a gamble because he was all playbook/schmaybook, I'll learn it when I learn it; whereas Payton studied his playbook like he was studying for the bar exam. So I don't think those comparisons really apply here.
Why the Texans took Mario over Reggie I don't know and still don't know. But barring that, I don't think ANYONE would have turned down Reggie. I don't remember a lot of pre-draft media Reggie v. Mario or Reggie v. Laurence Maroney comparisons.
I asked the question the other day why Maroney has seemingly found a way to run north-south when Reggie hasn't. The only answer seems to be that in the heat of the battle, so to speak, Reggie's instincts don't kick in even though he's undoubtedly being coached to be patient and wait for the hole. I mean, they must be, right? However, it seems as tho he's doing the same thing every week and magically expecting a different result which seems frustratingly a Saints trait of the last couple of years. Were they being conservative with Reggie by putting him on special teams to return punts? That's what I always thought. But certainly by now the coaches would have expected him to be stepping up to the plate a bit more even with all the scrutiny he gets from the opposing D.
I think at this point, we all WISH he was doing more but at only 8 games in with all the impact he's already made in this community off the field but aren't ready to make it more of an issue..... yet.