My Reggie Bush Swap Meet Jersey

This really should have been the first post I wrote on here. I was buying so many things and posting them and I never had the chance. This jersey was a good find and a lucky one.


Back in the early 2000's, USC was a dominant force in college football. Reggie Bush, the starting running back for Trojans from 2003 to 2005, won the Heismann Trophy* in 2004. 

*It was rescinded after the NCAA found out he was paid. 

The New Orleans Saints ended up drafting him 2006 and he helped turn around the Saints along with Drew Brees.

I really wanted a Reggie Bush jersey and in 2007 I ended up getting one.

I was part of the American Marketing Association and the student conference was taking place in New Orleans. I thought to myself that it would be great if I could score a Reggie Bush or Drew Brees jersey while I'm down there.

The group I was in were exploring the French Quarter, when we stumbled on a small swap meet and there was man selling Saints and few other teams jerseys. I wanted something that looked authentic and didn't have heat pressed numbers and letters that would disapear after a few washes. Everything was sown on.

   
It had the NFL shield on it, the Reebok logo, and fleur de lis. 

There were no prices on the jerseys and I looked in my wallet and saw I had $40 left. Being a master negotiator I blurted out, "Can I have this for $40?". He said yes. After our conference session were over for the day, I ended up wearing this each day looking like a tourist. 

The only differences between mine and the authentic that Reggie is wear is the numbers are a different shade of gold and there's no Saints/Louisana patch on it. The Brees jerseys the man was selling had the patch.

I've only been to a few swap meets in California but I've never been able to buy a jersey like that for that price.