Bush no stranger to misery both as Lion and Bill
Of all the people gathered at Ford Field on Thursday for the Detroit Lions’ 31-0 NFL preseason finale rout of the Buffalo Bills, perhaps no one was better versed to speak on the outlook for both teams than running back Reggie Bush.
Bush was a Lion from 2013-14. He’s currently a Bill.
Yes, you could say the man has known his share of pain and strange times.
And we didn’t even mention his two-year fling with Kim Kardashian.
As the two closest NFL teams to Canada — and both have played games in Canada, by the way — the Bills and Lions share a unique bond.
They also share a kinship from afar, as failures of a different ilk.
The Bills are known as the team that always loses the Super Bowl.
The Lions are known as the team that never gets to the Super Bowl.
On Sept. 8, 2000, both the Lions and Bills contested NFL playoff games.
Detroit was dumped 27-13 by the Washington Redskins.
The Bills fell 22-16 to the Tennessee Titans on a last-play kick-return lateral for a touchdown, forever to be known as the Music City Miracle.
Since that mishap, the latest in a litany of Buffalo sporting blunders, the Bills have not returned to the playoffs. It’s the longest active drought of any NFL team.
So how do you like your new team’s chances of ending that skid, Reggie?
“I think we have everything we need here to be able to make a push to win the division but it’s going to take a lot of work,” Bush insisted, pointing to high-end skill players such as running back LeSean McCoy and receiver Sammie Watkins. “We definitely have a lot of offensive weapons.
“It’s going to come down to one, chemistry as a team; and two, it’s going to be our ability to play a high level week in and week out because the games only get harder every week.
“It’s going to take a full season for us to get to where we want to go to.”
The Lions possess their own link to futility. They haven’t won a playoff game since 1991. That’s the longest active drought of any NFL team.
The odds of the Lions getting out of their dismal playoff snide this year minus the NFL’s best receiver, the recently retired Calvin Johnson? Well, let’s say Johnson has a better chance of winning Dancing With The Stars.
“And Calvin’s no dancer,” Bush said, before returning the discussion to the gridiron.
“I’m interested to see how it’s going to play with life after Calvin. “That’s the big question, right? That’s the big question I think everybody is interested to see.”
For the Lions, any path to success begins right within their grouping within the NFC North.
“You start with your division,” Bush said. “You’re going to see Green Bay twice. That’s an issue.
“You can start with the two toughest teams in the division and it’s going to be Minnesota and Green Bay. If you can find a way to get past them, then I think you’ll be doing great.
“Those are two of the top teams in football, especially Green Bay.”
Speaking of top teams in football, the Bills have been looking up at the New England Patriots in the AFC East for about 15 years now.
“We definitely have our work cut out for us,” Bush said of the thought of seeking to dethrone Tom Brady and company.
“I’ve played in this division once before when I was in Miami and it’s tough.
“The Patriots are the top. They’re the ones that we have to beat in order to get to where we want to go to.”
What should the many Canadian fans of the two NFL teams situated closest to our border anticipate from their favourite squads in 2016? More mediocrity. More heartbreak. More failure.
After all, it’s what the Bills and Lions do best.