As a rookie, Darius Rush could’ve earned a Super Bowl ring. But he’s not complaining about waiting. The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Rush off the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad last season, who went on to win a Super Bowl months later.
While Rush didn’t get his ring, he got his first NFL snaps in Pittsburgh. There weren’t many, appearing in only three games and logging just 39 defensive snaps. A chance to get his feet wet, Rush didn’t regret leaving Kansas City.
“Congratulations to those guys for sure, most definitely,” Rush said via Steelers.com’s Mike Prisuta. “I’ll earn mine one day.”
Rush had a turbulent rookie season. A fifth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts, he was the highest draft pick not to make his team’s 53-man roster. The Chiefs claimed him off waivers, holding him onto their roster for two weeks before waiving him, too. They re-signed him to the practice squad.
Pittsburgh jumped in just before Halloween, signing Rush off the Chiefs’ practice squad. Three weeks later, he saw his first NFL action, playing 30 snaps in a Week 9 win over the Tennessee Titans. Most of that effort came in dime packages and he had the chance to play hero but dropped a game-ending interception. LB Kwon Alexander finished the job moments later.
Playing time was rare the rest of the season. Inactive most weeks, he saw nine snaps in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals while playing 17 on special teams in a short-week loss to the New England Patriots. Rush’s season ended with three tackles and no ring. Instead, his ex-teammates pulled things together for a playoff run, the Chiefs knocking off the 49ers in overtime to become back-to-back champs.
Rush will enter 2024 with a chance to stick on the roster from the start. Pittsburgh’s depth at outside corner is unproven and there for the taking. And there’s opportunity on special teams, last year’s starting gunners James Pierre and Miles Boykin now with new teams. Rush is open to whatever he can do.
“There’s always a role, you just gotta earn it.”
He doesn’t want a repeat of last year. Cut, claimed, practice squad. Three teams in one season, bouncing from apartment to apartment, playbook to playbook. Darius Rush is searching for stability. He’ll worry about a Lombardi later.
