ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -Michael Bush sat and watched every agonizing minute of the first day of the NFL draft, waiting to hear his name called.
Considered a first-round pick before a broken leg cut short his senior season at Louisville, Bush had to wait until Sunday when the Oakland Raiders selected him with the first pick of the fourth round to find out where he’d play in the NFL.
“I’m just ready to go,” Bush said. “I got a chip on my shoulder because guys were scared to take a risk with just a broken leg. I’m just ready to go and prove some people wrong and show them that I’m the back I once was in college.”
Bush was considered one of the top running backs in the country before breaking his leg in Louisville’s opener against Kentucky in September. He was coming off a junior season in which he ran for 1,143 yards and an NCAA-leading 23 touchdowns.
He applied for a medical redshirt in case he decided to come back to school, but instead opted to enter the draft. The Raiders were happy to take a chance on him with the 100th overall selection.
The second day of the draft was a busy one for Oakland, which also traded disgruntled receiver Randy Moss to New England for a fourth-round pick.
Earlier this month, Bush took part in his first full workout since he was hurt in September, and also received a thumbs-up prognosis from James Andrews, an Alabama-based orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports injuries. He said he hopes to be full strength by June, although his doctors are targeting July.
Bush had a second operation in March when a new rod was inserted into his leg after the bone didn’t heal quickly enough from the initial surgery.
The injury led Bush’s draft stock to fall, but he still expected to picked Saturday.
“I was just stunned,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect, what to think. My agent and I didn’t have anything to go by. I just felt like maybe it wasn’t right for me to go on the first day. It was a little disappointing but everything worked out fine.”
Before being hurt, the 6-foot-1, 251-pound Bush was noted for running with both power and speed, while also being a capable receiver. He actually came to Louisville as a quarterback.
The Raiders already signed free agent running back Dominic Rhodes from the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts and have LaMont Jordan and Justin Fargas returning at the position. New coach Lane Kiffin has compared Bush to LenDale White, the running back he coached in college at Southern California.
With the pick the Raiders got for Moss, they selected speedy cornerback John Bowie from Cincinnati, a former 100-meter Big East champion. Oakland then selected defensive lineman Jay Richardson from Ohio State and safety Eric Frampton of Washington State in the fifth round, and blocking fullback Oren O’Neal of Arkansas State in the sixth round.
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