CLEVELAND, Ohio — We’re not all that far removed from Browns linebacker Devin Bush, then with the Steelers, finishing third in defensive rookie of the year voting, just behind Nick Bosa and Maxx Crosby.
Bush was doing what was promised after his career at the University of Michigan and a 2020 NFL combine performance that saw him run a 4.43 40-yard dash and register a 40.5-inch vertical.
“Man, that guy was 21 years old, just running around just hitting everything that had a ball in his hand,” Bush recalled about his rookie season in Pittsburgh.The Steelers traded up to select Bush No. 10 overall, giving Denver picks 20 and 52 as well as a third-round pick, to take the Butkus Award winner from the Wolverines, still searching for a replacement for Ryan Shazier, who had suffered a career-ending spine injury in 2017.
The pick appeared on its way to paying big dividends after a rookie year in which Bush collected 109 tackles, nine tackles for loss, forced a fumble and recovered four — including one returned for a touchdown — and intercepted two passes.
Bush was ready to break out in Year 2. He became the Steelers’ defensive play caller and played every defensive snap until he tried to make a tackle against the Browns in Week 5, diving after running back D’Ernest Johnson and then grabbing at his left knee after he landed following the play.
He underwent surgery for a torn ACL, the first major injury of his football life. It quickly derailed the promising start to his career and it’s why Bush is in Cleveland now, working on a one-year deal for the second season in a row and, on the verge of turning 26 in a few weeks, doing whatever he can to stay in the league.
