Reggie Bush knows what Johnny Manziel is dealing with right now. And Bush has some advice.
Bush, who like Manziel entered the NFL having already become a huge star in college football, says that Manziel needs to devote all of his attention to football and stay away from anyone who can’t accept that football is his top priority.
“It reminds me of what I went through, you know,” Bush told ESPN.com. “For him, he’s going to have to learn how to say no and that’s going to be extremely hard because it’s going to be the people closest to you who you’re going to have to learn to say no to. And then you’re going to have to keep your circle small so that you can be allowed to focus on football, because without football, nothing else is going to [matter].”
Bush says that when he dated Kim Kardashian, he learned that celebrity can detract from football.
“When I started dating my ex, that’s when all this stuff came,” Bush said. “But it’s part of the territory and, like I said, everything happens for a reason. A lot of it started in college, too, winning championships and all the different things we were able to accomplish at the collegiate level, that’s where it started obviously, why there was the attention at first, because of the accomplishments. Then all the other stuff came. The gossip magazines and all the other stuff, the ugly side of it. But you know what, I wouldn’t change anything because it helped mold and shape who I am today and I’m a better man for it.”
Bush is, from all accounts, a hard-working player who has managed to avoid being affected by off-field distractions. In that respect, the Browns’ front office would like to see Manziel follow in Bush’s footsteps. Minus the part about dating a Kardashian.