South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Rays of sun for Florida football
While local teams struggle, 4 former preps shining in NFL
Yes, it will sound weird, but what a great year for local football.
What storylines. What surprises. There’s something invigorating about looking across the canvas of these first couple of months as local stars succeed in a big way.
At least if you look where the good news is.
“Where’s that?” the Dolphins and Hurricanes fans ask.
Look at the second pick in the NFL draft last spring, Nick Bosa of St. Thomas Aquinas High. He’s already been named the NFL Defensive Player of the Week. He’s playing, in the words of San Francisco 49ers teammate Richard Sherman, like “a monster — a real monster.”
Look at the draft’s 10th pick, Devin Bush of Flanagan. He’s been the NFL Defensive Player of the Week too. Think of that — seven weeks into the NFL season and two Broward rookies are players of the week.
You’ll see Bush a lot against the Dolphins on Monday night because, as Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “He’s making plays every game.”
Look at the 16th pick too, Brian Burns of American Heritage. He is third behind the other two Broward players in most NFL Rookie Defensive Player of the Year rankings. His Carolina Panthers coach, Ron Rivera, says Burns is “growing into something special.”
Finally, look at the 25th pick, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown of ChaminadeMadonna. His first NFL catch went for a 47-yard touchdown against the Dolphins;
his second catch went 83 yards for another touchdown.
“That’s why we drafted him,” Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh said afterward.
Four Broward players taking the NFL by rookie storm. That’s one heck of a story, isn’t it? It sure beats hearing about this baby-step progress in Dolphins losses or some postmortem on the Hurricanes.
The Broward Four didn’t just make history with a record number of first-rounders from this county — it sent the NFL publicrelations department looking to see if it was the most from any county.
The players keep in touch with their schools from NFL datelines too.
Bosa and his brother Joey, the San Diego Chargers’ defensive end, are talking with St. Thomas about an event. Bush had his Flanagan jersey retired during the Steelers’ bye week. Brown recently texted Chaminade coach Daemon Jones about visiting when the season was over, as he always does.
Burns doesn’t just stay in touch with American Heritage coaches. He had coach Pat Surtain and some assistants in the background of a pizza commercial shot this summer.
“You could tell this kid, even in high school, was a walking pro,’’ said Surtain, the former Pro Bowl Dolphins cornerback.
“He had all the intangibles of a pass rusher, the maneuverability, quickness, the way he could bend the corner and convert speed to power. He’s all work too.”
There’s a cautionary tale here for the local teams. None of the four went to the University of Miami; only Burns stayed in state by attending Florida State. So we’ll know Miami is trending back to relevance when these kinds of recruits stay home.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, aren’t getting the kind of production from 13th overall pick Christian Wilkins these players are delivering. Bosa had his national coming-out party by sacking Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield twice and taunting him; Bush has a staggering six takeaways in six Pittsburgh games; and Burns has 4 1⁄2 sacks in revamping Carolina’s defense.
Brown’s long journey through junior college and Oklahoma has been rewarded in a way to show others. At Chaminade, the coaches joke how his decisions have been blessed along the way. Brown’s three touchdowns and 326 yards receiving are more than any Dolphins receiver despite his missing two games with a knee injury.
“He always gets the Heisman Trophy quarterback and does well with them,” Jones said. “He had Baker Mayfield first at Oklahoma, then the guy in Arizona, Kyler Murray. Now he’s got Lamar [Jackson] in Baltimore. They make good partners.”
No, this hasn’t always been a fun football season in South Florida. You may be growing tired of reading how the Dolphins are losing with a purpose or may have scratched your head over Hurricanes losses.
This has been a season when you wonder why you got so excited in the first place. But not everywhere is disappointing.
You just have to look in other places.