L.A. Reid is Pumped for Gaga at Super Bowl

L.A. Reid says he's stoked the NFL tapped Lady Gaga for the Super Bowl LI halftime show ... despite the fact he once DROPPED her from his record label.

True story.

Back in 2006, Reid 86'd Gaga from Epic Records ... and now calls it "the biggest mistake of my career."

He recently explained the whole situation to FOX 5 saying, "I feel a little bad about it. I do. I feel bad. I signed her. She comes in, she plays the piano, she’s incredible, she sings, I sign her, I tell her she’s going to change music. A couple of months later I say, maybe I wasn’t right. Maybe I don’t like this so much and I make the biggest mistake of my career. I dropped Lady Gaga."

Good news ... they managed to move past it -- and he's still a huge fan.