Reggie Bush To Wear Cleats Honoring Joe McKnight

Reggie Bush will wear cardinal and gold cleats honoring fellow USC running back Joe McKnight as part of the NFL’s My Cause, My Cleats initiative.

This weekend, the NFL is allowing players to wear custom cleats to show their support for charitable causes and the Bills’ Reggie Bush will use the opportunity to honor fallen USC running back Joe McKnight.

McKnight was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in a New Orleans suburb, in a suspected road rage encounter. The man who shot McKnight was released without charges later that night while the investigation continues, prompting a firestorm of criticism.

Bush’s message on Sunday, however, will revolve around remembering McKnight, who was touted as “the next Reggie Bush” when he arrived at USC, tying the two players together forever.

The cleats are cardinal in gold, with an image of McKnight, his name, his birth date and death date.

There is a slight hiccup in Bush’s tribute — the painter set McKnight’s birth year as 1983 instead of the correct 1988.

Bush tweeted that the mistake would be corrected before game time.

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Though McKnight never quite lived up to Bush’s once-in-a-generation level, he finished a productive career with the Trojans before spending time with the Jets and Chiefs in the NFL.

He had just finished the season in the Canadian Football League and was pursuing an NFL comeback when he was killed.

Bush spoke out on Thursday after the news broke of McKnight’s death, bemoaning the mentality that causes violent road rage disputes and praying for McKnight’s family.

“At what point did we just lose our ability to handle differences like men and talk out our problems! What happened to that?” Bush wrote on Twitter.