Remember him? The hot-shot linebacker from Michigan State a while back? Then all of a sudden -- ZAP -- he was suspended for undisclosed reasons and pretty much fell off the radar. Let's look back.
Bullough was all this and all that in high school, garnering many honors. Then on to MSU. While there, he played as a freshman, and steadily got better year after year, also being named to several All-whatever teams, but never quite made it to consensus All-America status. Nevertheless, he was regarded as one of the best linebackers in college during his senior year. The NFL awaited him and his future seemed bright.
But as mentioned above, just before the biggest game of his life, the 2014 Rose Bowl as a senior, he was canned from the team. No explanation was given. The Spartans would go on to defeat the Stanford Cardinal in that game -- but without the services of Bullough.
Understandably, a lot of people wanted to know what had happened with Bullough, not the least being the press. So they dug and they dug some more, but the lid stayed on tight. With all their resources and "peeps" the scribes still came up empty. Obviously, head coach Mark Dantonio had the answers, but he wasn't talking. Who else in the MSU administration was also aware is a matter of speculation. Did Bullough's teammates know as well? Unknown, but it seems likely. The players know everything about each other, but they weren't talking either. With apologies to Maxwell Smart, the cone of silence remained firmly in place in East Lansing.
Eventually, like most everything else in today's "news cycles", the story faded away and people forgot about it as other things of note arose and turned their attentions elsewhere. For that matter, to date, over a year later, there has still not been an official reason given why things went down like they did.
But just recently, in a story that very much flew under the radar, one Jeff Ross of The DetroitSportsRag claims to have finally discovered the truth. According to Ross, a very drunk Bullough got into a fight with an also drunk former high school teammate a couple weeks before the Rose Bowl. Who was the instigator and/or at fault remains unknown, but as it turned out, Bullough beat the other guy up bad -- REAL bad.
Ross further claims that Bullough's suspension came at the request of his own family. They were willing to pay for the medical bills of the "other guy" to patch him up, and even have their prodigal son zapped from playing in the Rose Bowl at the zenith of his college career. But they didn't want the story to get out. If true, politicians refer to such things as a "quid pro quo", which loosely translates from the Latin as "something for something". What we do know is that long after that Rose Bowl had been played, the lid stayed on regarding the Bullough "affair".
But as Ross pointed out, a guy with the talent and resume like Bullough would certainly have aspirations of playing in the NFL. And what do all "wannabes" have to go through? The annual pro "combine" in Indianapolis. At the meat market, the pro teams want to know everything about a potential draft choice. Height, weight, time in the 40, how high they can jump, agility drills, percentage of body fat, any scrapes with the law, love lifes and possible kids, etc., and even a psychological exam. Let's just say they attempt to be pretty thorough these days with their evaluations before they commit a few million bucks to a player.
So one can certainly assume various NFL folks popped the question to Bullough. What did you do that got you canned from your college team just before the biggest game of your life?
Max would have no choice but to answer. At that point, the circle of people "in the know" got a lot larger. When enough people know a "secret", it's just a matter of time before it gets leaked. Had Bullough been a potential first round draft pick, it's highly likely the press would have sniffed it out from one "anonymous" NFL source or another, and it would have been all over the news.
That's assuming, of course, that Ross had his story right in the first place. It's not like it's been corroborated from any other source.
But even without the mysterious incident, Bullough was nowhere near being considered a first round pick. Most expected him to go in the third or fourth round. He wasn't projected to step into a starting role as an NFL linebacker. Perhaps as a backup, contribute on special teams, and maybe he can grow into it in a couple years.
Thing is, Bullough wasn't drafted at all -- by any team. What really happened before the Rose Bowl and what he told the NFL folks at the combine remains officially unknown as well -- TheDetroitSportsRag version notwithstanding. But it seems odd that out of over 200 college players drafted, Bullough wasn't one of them. Not even in the 6th or 7th round? By anybody? Very strange.
Bullough would eventually sign on with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent -- but not survive the "cut" when the teams had to pare their rosters down to 53. He was on the open market again, but no one claimed him. For a guy that supposedly had so much potential, this seemed highly odd as well. Is the man cursed, doesn't have what it takes to play in the NFL, or is there really more to what happened in December of 2013 that we still don't know?
Nonetheless, Bullough was re-signed by the Texans to their practice squad. A three year deal at the minimum league salary. In other words, he's hanging on to the NFL by his fingernails.
Maybe Ross had it right. Maybe not. Maybe someday a whole different story will come out. Maybe not. Maybe Bullough, soon to be 25, will eventually be a star linebacker and earn big bucks. Maybe not. Or maybe he'll soon find himself on the huge scrap pile of NFL wannabes. Hopefully not.
But one thing's fairly certain. It's been over a year since Max originally got busted, and a year is a very long time in the news these days. A year ago, people like A-Rod, Lance Armstrong and Donald Sterling were big stories. When's the last time you thought about any of them?
So whatever happens to Max Bullough in the future likely isn't going to draw much attention either. He already had his 15 minutes, whether we'll ever know the true story or not.
Here's wishing him well......
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