My friend Tim had the day off so we went out and got some breakfast then came home, grabbed Kaelyn, and went downtown. Former coworker Nate Grella hooked me up with some free tickets to the Reds Hall of Fame museum and, since they expire next week, we decided to use the freebies. The museum was pretty cool. Loved the Pete Rose exhibit. Kaelyn had a blast. As we left, Tim asked if we could swing by the Bengals Pro-Shop. While there we could see the New Orleans Saints on the practice field; they're playing Cincy in a preseason game tomorrow.
When we left the shop, I decided to drive down by the practice field to see if we could catch a glimpse of some players. The Saints had just finished practice and were crossing the street from the practice field back to Paul Brown Stadium. We caught the light and saw former Ohio State Buckeye Antonio Pittman cross with a few other players. Then the light turned green. With no particular place to go I did a U-turn [illegal?] and hit the light again. It was then that . . . well, we saw him:
Number 25.
Reggie Bush.
NFL Superstar.
I mentioned to Tim that I had the opportunity to alter the NFL season. As he crossed the street I could hit the gas and see if the man who's made a career of dodging 300 pound lineman could dodge a 1.3 ton Ford Explorer.
I . . . could've . . . ruined . . . fantasy football . . . for millions.
And I also could've made Michael Vick, PacMan Jones, and Chris Henry happy men. Their PR problems would've disappeared from the headlines with pictures of the former USC All-American being pried from the grill of my SUV.
Sure, I would be in prison for years, not to mention the fact that I'm a minister and that my 18 month-old daughter would've been in the car at the same time. But it would be an interesting story to tell, eh?
Instead of committing vehicular manslaughter and flattening a Heisman winner, I instead decided to take his picture [I had the camera from our museum trip]. But, by the time I grabbed it from the case and aimed, Tim said, "you know he's already gone, don't you?" I looked up and, sure enough, Bush had sprinted across the street to avoid autograph hounds and bolted into the stadium.
Both opportunities lost.
As fast as Reggie ran across the street, I think he had a fighting chance against the Explorer.
But I could've at least put him to the test.