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Matt Bushman’s 2020 season ended before the games began, but his journey is far from over.
Bushman’s career at Brigham Young University has been nothing short of legendary. Starting as a Freshman All-American in 2017, Bushman has continued to improve each year.
Bushman was looking forward to reprising his star role in 2020 when he hurt his Achilles tendon, unfortunately ending his season before it began.
“It just stunk for not only me, but the whole team. I was looking to be the focal point of the offense, so that was unfortunate.”
Tight ends coach, Steve Clark, has been with Bushman from the beginning and was devastated when he heard the news. Speaking of the injury, Coach Clark said, “He was playing as well as I’ve ever seen him play, not even close. When it happened, it was…it’s still hard for me to realize he won’t play this year.”
Though Bushman can’t practice or play, his influence has still been felt throughout the team. Coach Clark believes that Bushman’s success has shaped the tight end group. He said, “It helped us build a room where people said, ‘I want to be the next Matt Bushman. I want to go out and catch balls and do the things he’s doing.'”
Bushman says his recovery is going well and he hopes to get back to normal before next season, and Coach Clark thinks he will. Looking forward to his comeback, Bushman said, “I don’t have any plans of slowing down. I’m going to come back. Everyone, the doctors think I can come back stronger than ever and that’s the plan. Before I got injured, I was feeling the best I’d ever felt, was playing at the highest level I’d ever played at, and I don’t expect that to drop off.”
Coach Clark seconded Bushman’s positive outlook. He knows Bushman has the capability of making a comeback. He said, “If he works as hard as he did coming into the season, there’s no question he will. Matt will be fine either way, just because of the character that he has.”
The BYU tight ends have accounted for eight touchdowns so far this season, in what has been a breakout year for the group. You can catch the Cougar tight ends in action again next Saturday as they take on North Alabama.
