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'Filling his shoes' Chiefs' Bush tackles familiar circumstance
Posted: Thursday May 04, 2000 10:54 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Chiefs linebacker Lew Bush will spend minicamp adjusting to new teammates and a painfully familiar circumstance. Bush was signed by Kansas City in the offseason as the replacement to linebacker Derrick Thomas, who died in February after being paralyzed two weeks earlier in a one-car accident. In his third season at San Diego, Bush replaced teammate David Griggs, who had died in a one-car accident over the summer in Davie, Fla. It's an eerie coincidence that sticks with Bush on the football field. "That's the first thing that came to my mind," Bush said as the Chiefs prepared for the start of this weekend's minicamp. "I don't want to say it's scary, but it really makes you think and makes me value every minute I'm on that field. "Every day I come to the stadium, I don't care how I'm feeling or if I don't feel like working today. I'm going to do it because it can be taken away from you at any moment." Bush stepped into Griggs' position and became a five-year starter for the Chargers, whose defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL as recently as 1998. Less than a year after Griggs' death, Chargers running back Rodney Culver and his wife, Karen, died in the ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades. Shortly after that, former Chargers linebacker Doug Miller, a teammate of Bush's in 1993-94, was struck by lightning and died while camping in Colorado. The accidental deaths have profoundly affected Bush. "I was very close to all three of my teammates who passed away," he said. "They all touched my life in a certain way. I have a special place in my heart for each and every one of them. Rodney gave me spiritual guidance through that year after David passed. That's all I was hearing: 'You're filling his shoes.' We used to talk a lot about that. "I try not to think about it. I don't want it to be a distraction. They're in a better place. They gave this world all of themselves, and hopefully we can carry on that legacy."
Thomas, who excelled at rushing the passer, ended his professional career with 126.5 career sacks and nine Pro Bowl appearances. By contrast, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Bush has just three career sacks, a proven run stopper. "Everybody in this locker room knows I'm not Derrick Thomas," Bush said. "There's never going to be another Derrick. There's never going to be a guy with that kind of pass-rushing ability and intensity as a linebacker. I have certain intangibles that truly identify with Derrick. My intensity is very similar, and I want to win as badly as he did. "I will do what's asked of me and what is expected of me. ...I set high standards for myself, and I'm going to put 100 percent of Lew Bush on that field." The Chargers often replaced Bush in their nickel defense, which denied him opportunities to rush the quarterback. Though coach Gunther Cunningham said he looks upon Bush primarily as a first- and second-down player, the Chiefs also will look at him in passing situations. "From a linebacker spot, he'll probably do a better job," Chiefs backup quarterback Warren Moon said. "Where Derrick was big was when he put his hand on the ground (as an end) and rushed the passer." During the offseason, Bush, 30, didn't plan on leaving San Diego, where he had one year remaining on his contract and operated Sweet Lew's, a popular barbecue restaurant. But the Chargers, in a salary-cap move, released him with the idea of signing him to a new contract. But when they gave him little time to accept a take-it-or-leave-it offer, Bush visited Kansas City, where he signed a six-year contract worth up to $17.5 million. "I committed myself to that organization, to that team," Bush said of the Chargers. "I gave them everything I had. The way it was handled was very insulting. I'm very honest with myself and honest with my performance, and I earned my money." In another twist of fate, Bush wore No. 58 with the Chargers, the same number as Thomas. But Bush will wear No. 51 with the Chiefs, and he hopes to eventually don an apron and become a part of Kansas City's barbecue scene. "I love cooking, I love food," said Bush, who sold his interest in Sweet Lew's but retained the recipe book containing his grandmother's secret sauce. "If things go well, playingwise, this year, I'm kind of interested in doing something here, since this is barbecue central."
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