SAINT OR $INNER? ALLEGATIONS ARE NOT TARNISHING BUSH'S IMAGE IN CRESCENT CITY.

Byline: BILLY WITZ Staff Writer

NEW ORLEANS - Reggie Bush paid a surprise visit Tuesday to Holy Rosary Academy, a small Catholic school that educates children with special needs. As he walked through the halls, students filtered into the hallways, chanting ``Reg-gie, Reg-gie,'' as he greeted them.

To those at the school, Bush is more than a football hero for the hurricane-ravaged city to rally around on Sundays. To them, he is a real live savior, thanks to a $56,000 donation that his shoe sponsor announced it will contribute to the financially strapped school.

Elsewhere, a different image of Bush is emerging, one that is less charitable.

Yahoo.com, following up on stories published in April, reported last week that Bush and his family had received cash and benefits worth more than $100,000 from marketing agents during his career at USC. The story cited receipts linking marketing agents to the former USC star, including one that had Bush's signature on a Las Vegas hotel bill paid for by one of the agents hoping to represent Bush when he turned pro.

Such violations would have made Bush ineligible under NCAA rules, and have raised questions about whether USC could be stripped of its 2004 national title and Bush of his 2005 Heisman Trophy if NCAA investigators verify the report.

As the Saints return to the Superdome on Monday night for their first game since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region just more than a year ago, the national spotlight is shining on Bush as well.

How one views Bush -- offering a hand out, or asking for a handout -- depends upon where one stands. Some see a Saint, others a $inner.

``Accusations of people who are in the spotlight are very cheap,'' said Father William Maestri, superintendent of Catholic schools in the New Orleans archdiocese, who earlier this year presented Bush with a plaque depicting Saint Reginald of Orleans, who lived in France nearly 800 years ago.

``Anyone can make them. What I know of him is a young man of generosity and character who is an incredible gift to the New Orleans community.''

Others are not so kind.

``If everything checks out -- and it looks valid -- Reggie will be the most vilified Heisman Trophy winner next to O.J. (Simpson),'' said Petros Papadakis, a college football commentator and former USC player. ``If he did this, he put the university at risk for very selfish reasons. Why? So he could have new (car) rims? So his mother could have a makeover?''

Two other fellow Heisman Trophy winners, Gary Beban of UCLA and Jason White of Oklahoma, said if the allegations are substantiated, there must be some punishment -- even if it's largely symbolic.

``How do you punish someone that's done with college football?'' asked White, who won the trophy in 2003, the year before he was beaten by USC and Bush for the national championship. ``Do you punish the university? If everything is true and nothing happens, that's not good for college football.''

Said Beban, who won the trophy in 1967: ``Universities spend quite a bit of time with players, especially ones with notoriety, so it's not as if you don't know what the rules are. If you don't have consequences, there's not much point in having the rules.''

Bush has denied any wrongdoing all along, but hasn't addressed the allegations specifically. His advisers have expressed concern that any statements made by Bush could be used against him in a lawsuit that a spurned marketing agent is threatening to file.

Asked after practice Wednesday if he were concerned that his silence might result in a presumption of guilt, Bush was resolute.

``Not at all,'' he said. ``People who know me, people who meet me on the street -- fans, whatever -- it only takes you five seconds to tell what kind of person I am. I've maintained the same position from day one. It's not going to change and I'm not going to get into a shouting match through the media.

``I can't control the media. I can't control what you guys write. If I tried to fight everything that came out about me in the paper, I'd be exhausted.''

Instead, Bush made sure during his 15 minutes with reporters to mention unsolicited several of his good deeds. In addition to the donation to Holy Rosary, Bush has established a program with Pepsi that hopes to build 25 homes with donations from the company based on his yardage totals. He'll also donate a portion of his jersey sales -- which is the NFL's highest-selling jersey -- to disaster-relief organizations.

Today, he will attend the re-opening of Tad Gormley Stadium, the home stadium for the many high schools that don't have their own field. Bush is contributing $86,000 to repair the stadium, which was under 4 1/2 feet of water after a nearby levee broke, and to next year install artificial turf.

In New Orleans, which still is in the infancy of recovery, these gestures go a long way. And, some locals reason, if some money was exchanged under the table, Bush would have plenty of company here.

``It shouldn't matter if he got all that stuff,'' said Pernell Thomas, as he took his 2-year-old daughter for a sno-ball Wednesday afternoon. ``If he's showing support for the state, helping people out, why should it matter?''

The sentiment in the Saints' locker room isn't much different.

Linebacker Scott Fujita said it would be ``naive'' to think college players aren't being paid, but ``whatever happened, he'll handle on his own. He's in the NFL now.''

Said veteran receiver Joe Horn: ``Only Reggie in his heart knows what happened. I'm not saying he did, but ... I'm sure there's some athletes in college who were getting $100 bills slid to them, who come from a home that doesn't have much, whose mom is working at a Wal-Mart, but their son is going to a university and making the university $10 million every other year.

``How many kids you know are going to turn down money like that?''

Around USC, they may beg to differ, especially if the university is faced with sanctions. While USC coach Pete Carroll and athletic director Mike Garrett have backed Bush, some school officials have privately expressed concern that the school could be penalized.

``The rules are complicated and there's flaws, but when the rest of the other 85 guys on scholarship are expected to follow the rules, it's a slap in the face to those guys if you don't,'' Papadakis said. ``Let's face it: he's not the only guy trying to use USC as a springboard to the NFL, but why should he jeopardize it for everyone else?''

Any sanctions could also be costly to Bush. While he wouldn't be subject to any penalties as a pro, he could take a hit in the pocketbook, according to a sports business analyst. The forfeiture of a Heisman Trophy or a national championship could see his white-hot marketing value plummet.

``There's certainly going to be some damage if it's proven that Reggie and his family did something inappropriate,'' said Dean Bonham, chairman of The Bonham Group near Denver. ``If USC loses a national championship, literally hundreds of thousands of fans would be pretty upset, an awful lot of sportswriters would come down pretty hard on him and that's not going to endear him to companies that are going to use him for endorsement purposes.

``It will more than wipe out all the work he's done. It will create a deficit in the goodwill bank.''

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Thanks to his charitable works, New Orleans Saints' fans are greeting running back Reggie Bush not only as a savior for the franchise, but for the city, which continues to rebuild.

Morry Gash/Associated Press

(2 -- color) President George W. Bush jokes with Reggie Bush beside first lady Laura Bush on Aug. 29 in New Orleans.

Tim Sloan/Getty Images