In the Big Easy, football dreams often come with a side of gumbo and controversy. Just ask Reggie Bush, the high-flying Heisman winner who touched down in New Orleans with a cloud of NCAA violations hanging over his head.

Little did he know, his journey with the Saints would be as unpredictable as a Mardi Gras parade route.

“My rookie year. Um, I hated Sean. I did. I really did,” Bush recently confessed in an interview posted by Saints Film Room on X, dropping a bombshell that would make even the most seasoned Saints fan spill their Sazerac.

The running back’s admission sheds light on the tumultuous beginnings of what would become a transformative era for New Orleans football.

Bush’s disdain for Sean Payton, stemmed from an unexpected source.

“Sean liked to yell. I didn’t like coaches that like to yell,” Bush explained.

“If you a coach that like to yell, it was already like an issue for me cuz I always felt like, you know, there’s a different way you can talk to guys.”

Payton’s tough-love approach wasn’t pulled out of thin air. “I was fortunate to spend my last three years as an assistant for Bill Parcells,” Payton said at his introductory press conference in 2023 when he joined the Broncos as HC, revealing the roots of his no-nonsense style. This Parcells-inspired intensity would shape the Saints’ culture for years to come.

The timing of Bush’s arrival in the Big Easy couldn’t have been more challenging.

Drafted just five months after Hurricane Katrina, he joined a team and city still grappling with unimaginable loss.

“We went to a team that was literally depleted, literally no energy, no culture, no nothing,” Bush recalled.

“We had to infuse all of that, that first year there together.”

Adding to the surreal situation, the Saints were nomads in their state.

“Our training camp, first four games of the season, five games of the season.

Uh, we were in, we lived in Mississippi,” Bush revealed, painting a picture of a team without a home.

Brees and Bush were a dynamic duo!

Despite the rocky start, Bush and quarterback Drew Brees formed a potent offensive tandem.

Their partnership played a crucial role in revitalizing both the Saints and the city of New Orleans.

Brees, recovering from a shoulder injury that had some questioning if he’d ever sling pigskin again, saw potential in the young running back.

He even phoned Bush before the draft comparing him to LaDainian Tomlinson.

“Drew called me and he says, um, he had a chance to play with LaDainian Tomlinson, who he considered to be one of the best running backs he ever played with,” Bush said back in 2018.

“And he said that he was very excited to get a chance to play with me, and he was looking forward to it and I had the chance to be as good or better [than Tomlinson].”

This vote of confidence from Brees changed Bush’s outlook on joining the Saints faster than you can say “Who Dat?”

Initially, Bush’s eyes were set on New York City all along as his first choice destination for “Third pick. “Third pick. Big city.

Marketing. … You’re gonna make a lot more money.” But Brees’ call flipped the script, with Bush admitting, “That moment right there completely changed my mindset about going to New Orleans.”

Payton, however, wasn’t about to let Bush slip away. When Bush’s agent tried to steer him away from the Saints, Payton’s response was pure New Orleans brass: “Sean [Payton] was like verbatim, ‘F— you.

I’m drafting Reggie Bush.’ And hung the phone up.”

The duo’s success on the field – Bush racked up nearly 100 receptions and 565 rushing yards as a rookie – helped spark a remarkable turnaround for the franchise.

However, the road wasn’t always smooth. The pressure to maintain success after their 2009 Super Bowl victory weighed heavier.

Payton’s relationship with Bush grew over time. “As we started to progress through the next few years, and we started to see the work pay off, um, you know, we developed a very close bond,” revealed Bush in the interview, proving that time can heal old wounds even among NFL players.

Fast forward to today, and Payton’s now steering the ship in Denver, bringing his trademark intensity to the Broncos.

His controversial decision to bench Russell Wilson last season shows that his tough-love approach hasn’t mellowed with age.

But perhaps the most intriguing development is Payton’s eye for quarterback talent. After famously missing out on Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft, Payton now “feels as strongly about Bo Nix as he did Mahomes.”

Only time will tell if this newest pick will love or hate Payton’s style, but one thing’s for sure – it’ll be one hell of a ride.