Reggie Bush on Lions’ Rise and Who Could Win It All at Super Bowl LIX

Reggie Bush is a big chips and dip guy.

The 2005 Heisman winner tells us that growing up, food was a big part of his Super Bowl celebrations (as it should be), and chips and dip was a staple.

This season, Reggie is part of a new Tostitos campaign to give fans a taste of the Super Bowl, including the chance to launch the NFL’s official game-winning confetti at the big game. The campaign launches this week with a nationwide challenge for fans to stop a virtual countdown clock at exactly 5.90 seconds—which is a nod to 59 years of the Super Bowl (Reggie says you can practice on your phone first, as a tip).

Bush has spent this season doing lots of other things besides eating Tostitos, though. For one, he’s been watching a lot of football. He’s kept a close eye on the Detroit Lions’ rise—he has thoughts on the driving factor behind the team’s success, too—and has taken note of some teams that he believes are in contention to win the Super Bowl (yes, the Chiefs are included in that list, but he also revealed some other teams that could shake things up). He’s also been bumping Kendrick and J. Cole. Complex sat down with Reggie to talk about all that and more in a recent conversation.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Throughout the years, Tostitos commercials during the Super Bowl have been pretty iconic. How does it feel to be a part of a Tostitos campaign this year?

It's kind of full circle. Every Super Bowl party or event that I'm at, you know, there's always chips and dip. It's become a staple for Super Bowl food.

Right.

[Tostitos] is a brand that I've been a fan of for a very long time, and I'm excited to be able to give people this opportunity to be a part of the Super Bowl, especially because it's back in New Orleans this year, which is where I started my career and also won a Super Bowl.

[Looks outside] I’m a little inspired by the snow outside in New York right now. Detroit also gets pretty snowy, and I want to tap into your experience—you played there for two years, and this season the Detroit Lions had a meteoric rise. In your opinion, what do you think has contributed to that? Is it something specific to the organization? Specific players?

I think it's coaching. Dan Campbell—I think he’s a great coach. He's tailor-made for Detroit.

I played with Dan in New Orleans; we were teammates for a few years. Dan was a blue-collar athlete. And by that, I mean, he's a guy that just came to work. He worked hard, didn't complain, and was a leader. That's really what Detroit has been missing at the head coaching position— somebody who's ready to get down into the weeds and grind, but also be able to relate to the players. I think that's extremely important.

What do you mean by that?

I think relatability is one of the most important pieces for a head coach, and that's why I think a lot of these teams fall short—because some of these coaches just have no relatability. You have to bring in [someone] who has to be able to coach people from all different walks of life, right? Different ethnicities, different cultures, different upbringings, different likes, different dislikes. Dan is perfect for that.

I just think he’s sparked inspiration. The players, the city, his press conferences, he’s got a very scruffy look and voice. It's like, perfect for Detroit, right?

*laughs*

So that's what I think has been the resurgence. It starts with the coach, because the team is going to take on the personality of its head coach.

We've seen coaches like Bill Belichick, for example, who’s had a ton of years of success winning Super Bowls. That team looked and felt like Bill Belichick’s DNA. So again, I just think [Dan’s] the perfect coach for this team and its culture.

Do you have any other coaches that’ve caught your eye this season?

Yeah! My old coach, Sean Payton, has been doing a great job with the Denver Broncos, especially with a rookie quarterback as well, which is not easy to do. We saw them blow out the Kansas City Chiefs the other day.

I also think the Buffalo Bills coach has always been great… and with Josh Allen playing at a high level, [the Bills] are always a team that’s knocking on the door.

And how about Jim Harbaugh this year? I think getting [the Chargers] to the playoffs in year one is awesome and just a great story. You see just how everybody's feeding off of his energy.

You mentioned the Chiefs. Do you think that they have what it takes to win again this year?

I definitely think there are teams that could challenge [them]. The issue is, you’ve got to go through Kansas City, and that's not an easy place to play—it’s never been an easy place to play. It's always been a very loud stadium. And it’s cold as hell, too.

So you gotta deal with the cold, you gotta deal with the fans, and you also gotta deal with [Patrick Mahomes]. There's just a lot of elements that are against you when you go into that stadium. The road to the Super Bowl travels through them.

Anything that sticks out specifically about the Chiefs? Are there any other teams that could shake things up?

Even though Mahomes isn’t having a high caliber year that we've been accustomed to seeing, the defense is playing at a high level, and that's really what's been the most consistent for them—getting pressure on the quarterbacks, getting turnovers. We're seeing the defense take the lead with this team, and it's become the story of the Kansas City Chiefs this year.

Now, teams that can go in there and beat them? Probably the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills. That's probably it.

Last question. Who are your favorite artists you’ve been listening to?

Kendrick Lamar is getting a heavy rotation in my playlist. J. Cole's last album has also been in heavy rotation.

Okay, I see you!

I'm a fan of art—true art. I think in hip-hop culture, these are two guys who have been delivering art on a high level when it comes to music and poetry, which I think is important. They’re creative in the way that they deliver their music, which I've been a fan of for a long time.