It’s never a good look for all parties involved in professional sports when an athlete’s dad takes to social media, television, or the airwaves to try and defend or make a case for his son or daughter.
On Thursday night, Devin Bush Sr. did just that for his son, third-year Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Devin Bush Jr.
Bush Sr. appeared on 93.7 The Fan with host Paul Zeise and hit on a number of topics while playing angry dad, defending his son who – for all intents and purposes — has had an up-and-down season overall in his return from a torn ACL suffered in Week 6 of 2020.
Bush Sr. — an eight-year NFL veteran in his own right with the Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns – touched on a number of topics in a 20-minute interview with Zeise, defending his son’s play, challenging anyone to pull up the tape, and stating that his son is being unfairly treated by the fans and media that covers the Steelers.
One such subject that Zeise asked Bush Sr. — now the Director of Recruiting at Ole Miss in the SEC — about was the lack of burst and overall suddenness with Bush Jr. in 2021 as he’s coming back from the knee injury. At times, Bush Jr. has looked a step slow, hasn’t trusted his eyes nearly enough, and just hasn’t consistently looked like that rangy, sideline-to-sideline defender that the Steelers traded up into the top 10 to draft in 2019.
Bush Sr. was unsurprisingly defensive of his son, challenging anyone to “pull up the film” and show where Bush Jr. hasn’t shown burst or has lost a step.
“I see bursts in speed in instances where he has burst to the sideline. He has bursts in speed to get around a block and to make a play on a screen play. I’ve seen him burst and tackle receivers,” Bush Sr. said to Zeise on 93.7 The Fan Thursday evening. “I’ve seen him burst into a hole, so I’m sure it’s there; if it was elite before, it’s still at a high level. So it being slow for him? He’s not slow. And he has the burst. He may not have the burst in his mind that he thinks he had, or he wants to, but you see it on the tape. You do not see a kid that’s out there not bursting. If you do, I would love for anyone – I would challenge anyone – to pull a film up, to show me where the burst is not there. Back up what you say about film.”
It’s entirely fair to state that Bush Jr. is struggling with speed and overall explosiveness post-ACL tear. However, he’s now a full year removed from the injury and the surgery, which is historically around the time that players are back to their pre-injury selves. That hasn’t happened yet with Bush, and he turned in one of his worst — if not the worst — performances of his career in Week 10 at Heinz Field against the Detroit Lions.
Bush Sr. certainly had a point later in the interview about Bush Jr.’s lack of splash plays and impact plays, considering the Steelers aren’t asking him to play like Ryan Shazier, but there’s no denying that the last few months of the Devin Bush experience have been a bit of a disappointment for a guy who was a top 10 pick, had an impressive rookie season, and was looking really good in 2020 before tearing up his knee.
Thursday’s interview with Bush Sr. was certainly a good get for Zeise and 93.7 The Fan, but it was incredibly cringeworthy to listen to, considering how Bush Sr. acted and defended his son.
