It wasn't so long ago that Jarrett Bush incurred the wrath of Green Bay Packers fans on a near-weekly basis.

His over-aggressiveness on special teams led to too many penalties and a level of unpopularity among fans that is usually reserved for opponents.

"It was unfortunate what they thought of me, but what I thought of them didn't change," Bush said Wednesday. "I thought they were still the greatest fans in the world.

"But it was up to me to change their perception of me and the way I played the game, the way I played football."

He has done exactly that, turning boos to cheers with his outstanding play on the punt and kick coverage teams this season.

The fifth-year defensive back from Utah State finished second on the team with 12 special teams tackles in the regular season and has added five in the postseason. He is a player the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to account for in Super Bowl XLV.

"He's hard to block," said special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum. "Outside he's strong, and he's got enough length and size that it's hard for a corner to play him one-on-one. And he actually will beat a double-team at times.

"He's been very productive here lately with helping down the ball inside the 20 and inside the 10 in some cases."

Bush has cleaned up the penalties, too.

Bush said it wasn't until he realized that he could impact the game with his play on special teams that he saw his value to the Packers.

"I didn't really know being a rookie, first-year, second-year guy that I could make a difference within the ball game," he said. "I learned, OK, if I do such and such thing like down the ball or control a returner that it has a big impact in the game."

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