MIAMI — Jermon Bushrod wasn’t blind to the daunting responsibility the New Orleans Saints gave him when they lost the services of former all-pro left tackle Jammal Brown to a preseason injury.
Bushrod hadn’t played a single regular-season snap on the offensive line during his first two seasons in the NFL. Suddenly, the 2007 second-day draft pick out of Towson was expected to protect star quarterback Drew Brees.
“I was kind of unsure how everything was going to turn out,” Bushrod said Tuesday. “It’s my first opportunity in this league. A lot of people say it’s my rookie year.”
No one in New Orleans is complaining about how Bushrod handled his first year — not with the Saints in the first Super Bowl in the club’s 43-year history.
“My hat’s off to Jermon Bushrod,” Saints running back Pierre Thomas said. “The things he’s been doing and the guys he’s been going against. I mean, he’s been holding it down.
“I’m surprised he wasn’t in the Pro Bowl, honestly. For a first-year (starter), you’re doing the things you’re doing protecting Drew Brees, and now you’ve protected him long enough you’re in the Super Bowl. He stepped up for this team a whole lot.”
For the last couple decades, NFL teams have invested high draft picks and a lot of money in left tackles, who have to be both big enough and quick enough on their feet to stop some of the most fearsome pass rushers in the NFL.
Brown was a first-round pick — 13th overall — in 2005 out of Oklahoma. The popular Sandra Bullock film, “The Blind Side,” recounts the story of Michael Oher, the Ravens’ first-round pick last year.
Bushrod played in a low-profile college program and hadn’t even been heard of by members of his own family. Of course, that’s changed in the past five months.
“I have a lot more cousins and all that good stuff. It’s a great opportunity just to meet all the family that I didn’t know I had,” Bushrod said, stressing that he was not joking.
