SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — Growing up, football quickly became a passion for Euclid native Arquon Bush. After working hard to continue a career in football through the University of Cincinnati, Bush is now awaiting a future of playing the sport he loves at the highest level—hopeful for a selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Early on, Bush knew that football was something he wanted to dedicate himself to. A young boy going to Euclid Central Middle School, Bush was a standout on the field, partly because of his speed, but also because of his gear.
"He was that silver helmet kid. Everybody had red helmets on the team but they didn't have enough to buy him one. So he had his silver helmet and you would see they would all be scrambling for the ball and you would see that silver helmet take off," said Dianna Barker, Bush's mom.
It was in those early years that Bush said he fell in love with the game.
"Everybody called me Silver Helmet. Super fast and I was good at the sport, and then I fell in love with it," Bush said.
Through middle school and high school, Bush played other sports but always came back to football. In high school, it was clear why. The Euclid High School grad was the top-ranked cornerback in Ohio and earned OHSAA First-Team All-Ohio honors, getting him offers from numerous schools, including Rutgers, Purdue and Michigan State.
But when it came time to spread his wings, Bush decided he wanted to stay close to home and close to family.
"That's why I picked Cincinnati, because I wasn't too far from home," Bush said.
Bush has spent five seasons with the Bearcats—the last three as a starter. In that time, Bush recorded 115 tackles, 32 passes defended, nine interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He was part of the 2019 AAC Championship game at Memphis, the 2020 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Georgia and the 2021 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against Alabama.
Grateful for the experience, Bush has been talking to former teammates that have gone on to play in the NFL, looking for advice, because now that's where he is looking to land.
"Now I'm back home and to potentially hear my name called on one of these days and be around my family is the best feeling ever," Bush said. "I'm a great player. I go in there, I do my job. I don't cause problems, smart player. So I just be myself and I can play ball."
Bush ran a 4.54 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL Combine, and put up a 33.5" vertical jump and a 9'7" broad jump. Since then, 31 NFL teams have reached out to talk to Bush. There's plenty of interest in the Euclid defensive back, but he won't be traveling to Kansas City for this year's draft.
Instead, Bush will stay true to himself and await a phone call from an NFL team looking to take him with their draft pick. The whole family will head to Cleveland for a get-together and cookout. Bush has a giant tomahawk steak waiting in his fridge that he'll take to the cookout and throw on the grill if he lands on an NFL team.
It's a celebration that will mean more because it will be around family.
"I'll be probably just around my family, just hanging around talking with them and stuff like that. So I probably won't be glued into the TV, just have my phone with me at all times, but just being around my family I feel is the best part," Bush said.
It's a family who couldn't be more proud of Bush.
"I've watched him work so hard to get here and to finally be at this level and waiting on that call to come for the dream of his life is—it's amazing," his mom said.
And while the NFL dreams Bush has are lofty, he knows that no matter what happens in this draft, football will continue to be a part of his future.
"You got different routes you can take. You got the XFL, you got the other leagues, you can take free agency, you can get picked up then. So I'm just keeping a positive head and just going forward," Bush said. "I'm just going to always move forward and if things don't happen, we find another route."
Bush will find out where his future will take him soon. The NFL Draft is set to take place Thursday through Saturday. The first round begins at 8 p.m. Eastern. The second and third rounds are on Friday starting at 7 p.m. The fourth through seventh rounds are on Saturday starting at 12 p.m. Catch all of the action on News 5.
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