Joshua B. Bush (born March 6, 1989) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

. He was drafted by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in the sixth round of the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. He was also a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and won Super Bowl 50 with the team over his home state

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Wake Forest.

High school career

Bush attended

West Davidson High School West Davidson High School, (also referenced as "WDHS", or simply as "West") is a public high school located in the Tyro, North Carolina community right outside of Lexington, North Carolina. West is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleg ...

where he was a standout player, on both sides of the ball. Bush was The 2006 Dispatch All-County Defensive Player of the Year after intercepting six passes as a senior. He also played quarterback as a senior, throwing for 676 yards and rushing for 642. He was an all-conference baseball player his junior year and played for the Post 8 American Legion team that went to the state finals.

College career

Bush attended Wake Forest University in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. He was a redshirt his freshman year and did not see any playing time. After redshirting in 2007 at Wake, Bush saw limited action as a redshirt freshman, making 17 tackles. He was used mostly at free safety in his sophomore year and had one interception. That one pick was a big one — it ended

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

's NCAA record of 379 passes without an interception. He played both cornerback and free safety as a junior, starting eight games and recording 33 tackles. As a senior free safety, Bush led the Demon Deacons with six interceptions and was named first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference. He was also a third-team All-American selection.

Professional career

New York Jets

The

drafted Bush with the 27th pick of the 6th round (187th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft. Bush signed a four-year contract on May 6, 2012. He was released on October 15, 2014.

Denver Broncos

Bush was signed to the

' practice squad on November 18, 2014. On December 28, 2014, Bush intercepted

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

quarterback Derek Carr in a 47-14 win to end the regular season. On October 1, 2015, he was waived by the team.

Buffalo Bills

Bush was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

on October 14, 2015, after safety Aaron Williams was placed on short-term IR. He was released by the team on October 23, 2015.

Denver Broncos (second stint)

On December 1, 2015, the

signed Bush to the active roster. On February 7, 2016, Bush was part of the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50. In the game, the Broncos defeated the

by a score of 24–10. Bush recorded two tackles in the Super Bowl.

Post-playing career

Bush joined

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

in 2021 as a pit crew member. He made his debut in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

in the Coca-Cola 600 as the rear tire changer for

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...

. As of 2023, he currently serves as a pit crew member for

Daniel Suárez Daniel Alejandro Suárez Garza (born January 7, 1992) is a Mexican professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing Team. He previously drove in t ...

's No. 99 Trackhouse Racing.

References

External links

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Wake Forest Demon Deacons bio

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Josh 1989 births Living people People from Lexington, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football cornerbacks American football safeties Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players New York Jets players Denver Broncos players Buffalo Bills players