“Nike first in line to pursue Bush” critique by Heather Hileman. Volume 8 Issue 39 page 4

Reggie Bush is not only the No. 1 NFL draft pick, but he is also going to be the center of a huge endorsement deal. Nike is in discussions with Bush about a major endorsement deal, after he flew on the corporate jet to Nike’s Beaverton, Oregon headquarters a couple of weeks ago. However, according to several sources he has yet to sign a shoe or apparel deal as of late last week. Also, he may still have meetings with Reebok, Adidas and performance apparel for Under Armour.
Top players entering the NBA draft in the last several years have negotiated shoes deals valued in the millions of dollars per year. NFL draft-picks have not hit those peaks, with the top players signing shoe deals in the range of $600,000 a year. Some sources speculate that Bush could be the first to break the $1 million-a-year mark.
Bush has, however, signed to appear at the Fantasy Football Spectacular, which is a memorabilia event to be held at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center March 30th through April 1st. President of the Triumph Sports Inc, states that there hasn’t been an un-drafted NFL prospect to ever generate the interest that he gets from Bush. He says the only thing that compares is Peyton Manning in 1998. He adds that the prices for autographed items for Reggie are three to five time what Peyton Manning got when he came out in ’98, and he says that Reggie will sell twice the amount.
I guess it will ultimately depend on how they market Reggie Bush. If the advertisements are well rounded and fit his personality, then I think that he could very likely break the $1 million a-year mark. However, to tell you the truth, I didn’t know anything about this player until I read this article. So, I guess I am either not into football as much as I once thought or maybe they need to market him more.