NEW ORLEANS (AP) -In a city trying to bounce back from Hurricane Katrina, he is known as ``Saint Reggie.''
His No. 25 jersey is the hottest seller in New Orleans. Fans chant his name whenever he shows up in public. His charity work for such devastated communities as the Ninth Ward only enhances his image.
But before everyone gets too carried away, let's not forget that Reggie Bush is standing in a rather long line of supposed Saints saviors.
Remember Archie Manning? How about George Rogers? Earl Campbell? Mike Ditka? Ricky Williams?
Much like Bush, all arrived in New Orleans carrying the hopes of a city and its often-dismal football team. None of them was able to turn the Saints into a consistent winner, a burden that still weighs on those who tried to turn it around.
``It's a great city. They really care about their Saints,'' Rogers said Monday. ``They may not win very many games, but they always get so close. You just want them to do good.''
Manning is the most prominent symbol of the Saints' formative years, a college star at nearby Ole Miss who was chosen with the second overall pick of the 1971 draft. He was - and still is - seen as football royalty in the Big Easy, even though the strong-armed quarterback failed to lift the team out of its expansion-era doldrums.
In 10 full seasons with the Saints, Manning never delivered a winning record.
Of course, it wasn't entirely Manning's fault. A typical season was 1972, when he led the NFC in passing yards and the entire league in pass attempts and completions. But the Saints were basically a one-man show, finishing with a 2-11-1 record.
``There's a lot of things that come with it,'' Manning said of the expectations he faced. ``As a young player, you're trying to get adjusted to this game and this league. There's a lot of things coming at you.''
Mostly, it was defensive linemen coming at Manning. While he made it to a pair of Pro Bowls, his shelf life was undoubtedly shortened by the awful beating he took playing behind the Saints' usually porous blocking.
As Manning's career was winding down, the Saints-turned-Aints - yep, it was New Orleans that launched the tradition of disgruntled fans showing up with bags on their heads - found themselves with the top pick in 1981, their reward for going 1-15 the previous season.
New Orleans went with the obvious choice. Rogers was a Heisman Trophy-winning runner from South Carolina, a big, durable back who could carry the franchise on his broad shoulders. He did little to lessen expectations when he rushed for 1,647 yards that first season - a rookie record at the time.
But Rogers' image was tainted the following year by his admission of cocaine use when testifying before a grand jury investigating charges of drug trafficking against a former Saints player. He was traded to the Washington Redskins after the '84 season and lasted just three more years in the league, his potential never fully realized because of nagging injuries.
``The thing I remember most was the fans wearing bags on their heads,'' Rogers said. ``When I got there, I said, 'If they're going to wear bags on their heads, they're going to miss a lot of action.' We didn't do as good as we wanted, but we played hard every game. That's all the New Orleans fans want. They just want you to play hard.''
The Saints dealt Rogers after acquiring Campbell, another former Heisman Trophy winner. But Big Earl was on the downside of his career by the time he got to New Orleans, a pitiable, beaten-up player who didn't in any way resemble the powerful runner who would sprint by or through would-be tacklers during his heyday with the Houston Oilers.
After Rogers and Campbell, New Orleans had the most successful run in franchise history under coach Jim Mora, who guided the Saints to their first playoff appearance in 1987 and three straight postseason berths in the early '90s. But they never won a playoff game, leading to another dramatic gesture.
Mike Ditka, the gruff coach who led ``Da Bears'' to a Super Bowl championship, replaced Mora after the '96 season. ``Iron Mike'' was supposed to be just what the Saints needed to win a title of their own, but his tenure was a folly of errors that is best remembered for trading all of New Orleans' picks in the 1999 draft for the right to take Williams, the Heisman-winning running back from Texas.
Ditka even donned a dreadlocks wig to show how enamored he was with Williams, but no one was laughing after the Saints went 3-13 during his rookie season. Ditka was fired, and Williams soon followed him out of town.
Now, it's time for Bush to bail out the Saints, who are coming off another three-win season that is certainly mitigated by the Katrina turmoil. With the Superdome in ruins, the team was forced to play its 2005 ``home'' games in San Antonio, Baton Rouge and East Rutherford, N.J.
After a speedy renovation, the Superdome is back in business. The Saints caught a break when Houston passed on Bush with the first pick of the draft, allowing New Orleans to scoop him up at No. 2. Two road wins only heightened the expectations for ``Saint Reggie'' heading into Monday night's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
``What magnifies Reggie's situation is the Katrina stuff,'' Manning said. ``That's such a big part of it. Reggie kind of fell in our lap. It was almost like that was a fate thing, as we're going through this recovery and that that happened. We get Reggie Bush instead of a defensive lineman or a linebacker. It wouldn't have been the same.''
Instead, the Saints wound up with another savior.
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AP National Writer Nancy Armour contributed to this report.
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