Only 67 players have played a game for both the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. Former Steelers first-round pick Devin Bush is looking to become the 68th player to don both uniforms in this heated AFC North rivalry.
"Just being from the other side, it's literally the same thing," Bush said early on at Browns training camp. "'Brownies' is all I heard. ... It's just the rivalry, it's always been there, it's always deep. It's more physical. There's more preparation that goes into it. There's more said about the game."
Bush will get a taste of what it's like from the other side of the rivalry in 2024. The 26-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Browns this offseason after spending last season with the Seattle Seahawks.
Bush found comfort in an AFC North return this offseason. And even though his career began in Pittsburgh, Cleveland isn't so unfamiliar considering his father played for the Browns from 2001-2002.
"It's cool, it's funny," says Bush of the irony. "It's different from when he played obviously. It's different for me but what I find funny is everything did happen to me it was against his team. And just being here is a funny coincidence."
Bush was the 10th overall pick by the Steelers out of Michigan and immediately made his presence felt as a rangey linebacker in the middle of their defe. An impressive rookie season that saw him finish third for AP Rookie of the Year had Browns fans thinking Bush would be the next great Steelers defender to torment Cleveland for years to come.
Then came a brutal ACL tear just five games into the 2020 season – against the Browns as fate would have it. After surgery and an extensive rehab process Bush struggled to reclaim his rookie form. That left Pittsburgh unwilling to pick up the fifth-year option in his rookie deal. It's not hyperbol to say the injury completely changed the trajectory of Bush's career.
"That was one of those things where you can't really be helped through it," Bush said. "It's just a day-by-day process. ... There's no special therapy. There's no special trick. There's no speech. There's nobody that's gonna come to your rescue but yourself and what you want to do there to get back to the game.
"Looking back at it now definitely helped me grow a lot as a person helped me grow a lot as a player."
Bush left Pittsburgh scarred in more ways than one. His eventual fallout with the Steelers due to the injury, served as a sobering reminder that football is a business.
That situation turned out to be yet another valuable learning experience for him.
"I would say I learned the business right then and there," Bush admitted. "It was definitely a process getting back, but through that process, I was able to pick up a lot on how the businesses ran, what happens, the cause and effect of things. So I mean, I learned a lot about the business. And I learned a lot about how to how to handle myself within the business."
That side of football was a whole new world for Bush. Like many young players, the euphoric backdrop of college football "can trick you," the 26-year-old explained. Players are sold on this idea of playing for "the love of the game," and sacrificing their bodies for championships and their teammates. Those Hollywood themes lose their novelty when a team can cut you at a moments notice and suddenly the checks stop cashing.
Bush had to learn that the hard way, which is why more than anything he's just grateful to still have an opportunity to play football. To have it be with a fact a franchise he knows well is a bonus.
"So far I love it. I love being here," he said. "I'm super familiar with everybody on the team I'm super familiar with, with this team and how things go. Right now I'm just taking the stride for stride and just having fun with it."
Bush was only three years old when his dad first started a short stint with Cleveland in 2001. The Michigan product doesn't remember much from his old man's two years with the franchise. Somewhere in a collection of family photos, however, are some images of Bush wearing a Browns jersey. In a full circle moment he now wears a Browns jersey with his name on it.
"He just happy that I'm still playing," Bush said of his father's reaction to him joining his former team. It's different for the league, if it's college it would have been different but for the league it's like yeah, alright you'll be there, one year deal, you'll be there you might be out so just happy that I'm still playing and I'm still loving the game."
The father son duo now get to share a special bond over playing for the Browns, completing a rare reverse heel turn for the younger Bush. He knows what changing sides of the rivalry means. He still remembers Cleveland's famous playoff win over the Steelers in January of 2020. Despite not playing in the game, he and his former teammates were left stunned by the 48-37 loss – the first Browns playoff win since the team was re-established in 1999.
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"It was like 'did that really just happen?' kind of thing," he said. It was a wild card game and the first play the snap went over [Ben Roethlisberger's] head, and after that it was a disaster. It was one of those like 'yeah, did that really just happen to us' moments."
Playing on a one-year deal, Bush has no idea what's in store for his career beyond 2024. However long his time in Cleveland lasts Bush hopes to help create more memorable Browns moments like that one – the the expense of the team he used to play for.
"I love night games in Cleveland for sure," he said. "That's probably one of the best times to play in Cleveland honestly. I'm just looking forward to being back in the AFC North man. I went out to the NFC West and it was a whole different vibe, whole different style and that wasn't something I was familiar with."
