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Bush smart not to rush NFL decision
The decision Michael Bush made about his football future yesterday was the best decision, the wisest decision, the only decision.
And what was the decision Bush made about where he will punish linebackers in 2007?
No decision. Not yet.
Perfect. There is no reason to rush toward the National Football League. And there's also no reason for Bush to put himself in position to eventually disappoint the University of Louisville faithful by saying he plans to return for a fifth season.
Not yesterday. Not today. Not tomorrow.
Not until the day arrives when Bush
must make a decision. And deadline day, according to Big East Conference associate commissioner John Paquette, is Jan. 15. Go ahead and make intelligent use of the 3? months. Then decide. Only 25 days have passed since Bush broke his right leg in two places against the University of Kentucky. NFL? Bush is still learning how to get comfortable with his long metal crutches. Bush controls this clock.
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Rehabilitation first[/FONT] Until the day arrives when Bush must give the NFL his answer, the only rush he needs to make is to the exercise bike, which he has been cleared to ride. Then he can worry about the swimming pool, which will be included in the next upgrade of his rehab. Later there will be approval for running, cutting, stopping and the other stressful moves that will tell him how well his right leg has healed.
Only then will Bush know how close he is to feeling the way he felt on Sept. 3, when he accelerated like a guy who was going to run for 500 yards and a dozen touchdowns against UK.
"Michael Bush was a first-round pick before he got injured," said Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys general manager who now serves as an analyst for
www.nfl.com. "I imagine that wouldn't change.
"Bush and Kenny Irons (of Auburn) are the two best backs out there. I know a lot of people in the NFL really like Bush because he's shown everybody he can catch the ball. He's a Pittsburgh kind of back because he's not afraid to knock people down."
Brandt's analysis is supported by other 2007 NFL draft projections. He is rated the top senior running back, ahead of Irons, on
www.ESPN.com. Bush has three inches and more than 50 pounds on Irons.
Brandt said the only concern he has heard about Bush is a tendency to carry extra pounds. Those pounds were not evident in the UK game, not after Bush flashed for a 48-yard touchdown on his first carry. For a half Bush ran the way a first-round pick is supposed to run.
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Wait until January[/FONT] If that's still how the projection board looks in January and Bush's leg continues to mend the way doctors believe it will, he can make his goodbye official then.
I would. Running backs come packaged with a finite number of carries. They make good money, but they don't have decades to make it. You make it when you can.
Bush has given this football program three years and a little more than half the UK game, but he's actually given U of L more than that.
By signing with Louisville out of Male High School, Bush gave the football program the kind of credibility that Wes Unseld and Darrell Griffith gave the basketball program several generations ago. Bush has proved that a local legend doesn't have to dance away to Notre Dame, Ohio State or Tennessee to convince guys like Brandt they are first-round NFL material.
But yesterday was not the day for Michael Bush to decide that. Not yet.
