Joe McKnight, the guy who was supposed to be Reggie Bush Redux but who never quite got there due to injuries and overblown expectations, is declaring for the NFL draft. Stated reasons: stable health and opportunity, two quantities McKnight rarely had at the same time at USC. McKnight himself is fairly honest about his turbulent, often lackluster career at USC after leaving high school as one of the nation's top recruits:
USC RB Joe McKnight To Turn Pro After ‘OK’ College Career
“The time is right,” McKnight said. “This was my first healthy season and I really don’t want to come back and risk injury. My career was OK...It was good, but not like Reggie. There was a constant pressure to be like Reggie.”
The end to McKnight’s career was fitting: suspended for accusations of driving an SUV that belonged to a booster-type, McKnight did not play in the Emerald Bowl victory over Boston College. In summary, the only thing he managed to rival Bush in was in the department of scandals involving alleged illegal benefits, and even then he comes up a bit short of the free house Bush enjoyed on the tab of a wannabe sports marketing agent. As Conquest Chronicles points out in the story linked above: the SUV scandal may have been the nudge McKnight needed in the end to leave.
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