Isaac Bruce

Isaac Isidore Bruce (born November 10, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 1994 NFL draft after playing college football for the West Los Angeles Wildcats, the Santa Monica Corsairs, and most notably with the Memphis Tigers.

An All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl selection, Bruce amassed 15,208 receiving yards in his career (fifth all-time). He played the first 14 years with the Los Angeles / St. Louis Rams and won a Super Bowl ring with the team in Super Bowl XXXIV over the Tennessee Titans. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers. During his time with the Rams, he was the leading wide receiver of "The Greatest Show on Turf". In 2020, Bruce was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Early life Bruce was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He graduated from Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale in 1990. As a senior for the Panthers football team, he caught 39 passes for 644 yards (16.5 yards per rec. avg.), was an All-County selection, and led his team to the 1989 Florida State 4-A Championship.

College career Bruce originally signed his letter of intent to play college football for the Purdue Boilermakers in 1990, but his SAT scores were too low for Purdue to accept him. Bruce then decided to attend West Los Angeles College, then to Santa Monica College before transferring to the Memphis State University, where he played beside fellow future NFL receiver Russell Copeland. In 1992, Bruce's first year with Memphis, he had 39 receptions for 532 yards and five touchdowns. In 1993, he became the first wide receiver in program history to post a 1,000-yard receiving season. He finished the season with a school-record 74 catches for 1,054 yards and 10 touchdowns. He earned a degree from Memphis in physical education, and he is the only Memphis player to be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

1994 season Bruce was selected in the 2nd round (33rd overall) by the Los Angeles Rams. He signed a 3-year, $1.75 million contract with the Rams on July 14, 1994. His first NFL reception was a 34-yard touchdown throw from Chris Miller at Atlanta on September 11, 1994. As a rookie, he finished with 21 receptions for 272 yards and three touchdowns. He earned the 1994 Carroll Rosenbloom Award, given to the team rookie of the year. He was also voted Rams Rookie of the Year by Orange County Sports Association and the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association.

St. Louis Rams

1995 season Bruce moved with the team to St. Louis in 1995. In 1995, Bruce was named the NFC's week 1 Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking a punt that contributed to a Rams 17–14 win over the Green Bay Packers. He was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for week 7 following a 10-catch, 191 yard, two-touchdown performance against the Atlanta Falcons in a 21–19 win. His total receiving yards for 1995 (119 catches for 1,781 yards) was second only to Jerry Rice's then record of 1,848 yards for one season, and is still the fifth most in a single season. In accomplishing this feat, Isaac Bruce surpassed former Houston Oilers WR Charley Hennigan's 34-year-old record of 1,746 set in 1961. Bruce's 119 catches also ranks 12th on the NFL's all-time single-season reception list. Bruce further broke four Rams' records, including most receiving yards, most receptions, most consecutive 100-yard receiving games (6) and most 100-yard games (9). Bruce made USA Today's All-Joe team, All-Madden, and All-Pro by Sports Illustrated and he was voted a first alternate to the Pro Bowl. He was also awarded the Rams MVP.

1996 season In 1996, Bruce led his team with 84 receptions and led the NFL with 1,338 yards. He became the first Rams receiver since Henry Ellard in 1990 and 1991 to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Against the Baltimore Ravens on October 27, 1996, he caught 11 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown. On November 30, 1996, Bruce was re-signed by the Rams to a 4-year $12.1 million contract extension. In 1996, he was voted to his first Pro Bowl, after having been an alternate the season before.

1997 season In 1997, Bruce missed the first six games due to injury. He finished the 1997 season with 56 recepitons for 815 yards and five touchdowns. In Atlanta on November 2, 1997, Bruce had another 200-yard game, totaling 10 catches, 233 yards and recording two touchdowns.

1998 season Prior to his injury in 1998 in a home game against the Minnesota Vikings, Bruce had 11 catches for 192 yards and an 80-yard touchdown. He appeared in five games in the 1998 season and had 32 receptions for 457 yards and one touchdown.

1999 season In 1999, Bruce was a second-team All-Pro and was voted to his second Pro Bowl. He caught 77 passes for 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns as Rams had a 13–3 record and advanced to the Super Bowl. He also led Rams in receiving yards in the playoffs, with 317 yards on 13 catches with a team-high two touchdowns. Bruce caught Kurt Warner's 73-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXIV to give the Rams a 23–16 lead, which turned out to be the game winner.

2000 season

Prior to the 2000 season, Bruce was re-signed by the Rams to a 7-year, $42 million contract extension. In 2000, Bruce was again a Pro Bowler and caught 87 passes for 1,471 yards and nine touchdowns. He became the first Rams receiver to earn back-to-back Pro Bowl invitations since Henry Ellard accomplished the feat for the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Bruce either led or was tied for the most receptions six times in 2000, led the team in receiving yards six times, and posted four 100-yard receiving games. That same year, Bruce and teammate Torry Holt became only the second WR duo from the same team to each gain over 1,400 yards in the same season (see Herman Moore and Brett Perriman).

2001 season In the 2001 season, Bruce totaled 64 receptions for 1,106 yards and six touchdowns. The Rams returned to the Super Bowl, losing to the New England Patriots, and Bruce made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time, becoming only the third receiver in franchise history to earn three consecutive Pro Bowl invitations (Elroy Hirsch 1951–53, Jim Phillips 1960–62). Bruce was voted offensive captain and became the franchise career leader in 100-yard receiving games (29), 1,000-yard seasons (5), and receiving touchdowns (56). He became just the second player in team history to post 500 career receptions vs. New York Giants on October 14, 2001. He caught five passes for 56 yards in a 20–17 loss to New England in Super Bowl XXXVI.

2002 season Bruce became the Rams' all-time leader in receptions in 2002 while posting his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season. That year, he led the team with seven touchdown receptions, and ended the season with 79 receptions for 1,075 yards. On his 30th birthday, Bruce had three fumbles in a game. Luckily for Bruce, he scored a game-winning touchdown and the game is almost forgotten because of 34–34 tie between the Falcons and Steelers the same day.

2003 season In 2003, Bruce missed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time since 1998, finishing with 69 catches for 981 yards and 5 touchdowns, however, he became the Rams' all-time leader in receiving yards (10,461), passing his position coach Henry Ellard (9,761). That year Bruce made seven receptions for 116 yards in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game double overtime loss to Carolina on January 10, 2004, making him the only Rams player to have four career 100-yard postseason performances, breaking a tie with Tom Fears.

2004 season In 2004, Bruce caught 89 passes (fifth in the NFC, eighth in the NFL) for 1,292 yards (fifth in the NFL). He started the season with four consecutive 100-yard receiving performances, the first player to accomplish this feat since Houston's Charley Hennigan in 1963. Bruce nabbed a team-high nine catches for 170 yards and one touchdown at Green Bay on November 29, 2004.

2005 season With the retirement of Jerry Rice, Bruce entered 2005 as the NFL's active leader in career receiving yards; a foot injury caused him to miss 5 games, and he was passed by Marvin Harrison by the end of the season. Still, he became the 14th player in NFL history with 800 career receptions on December 11 at Minnesota. He finished the 2005 season with 36 receptions for 525 yards and three touchdowns.

2006 season On March 7, 2006, the Rams released Bruce rather than pay him a $1.5 million bonus; however, five days after releasing him, the Rams agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal with Bruce. The re-signing freed a reported $7.5 million in cap money for the Rams. That season Bruce started 15 of 16 games and notched his eighth career 1,000-yard receiving season with 1,098 yards on 74 catches with three touchdowns.

2007 season In week 15 of the 2007 season, he retook the lead in career receiving yards among active players from Marvin Harrison, and in the same game passed James Lofton to become third on the all-time list. In the 2007 season, Bruce caught 55 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns, second on his team only to Torry Holt in all three categories.

On February 28, 2008, Bruce was released by the Rams after refusing to take a pay cut, which the Rams promised they would not do in a previous contract renegotiation.

San Francisco 49ers

On February 29, 2008, Bruce signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers, to reunite with his former offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Jerry Rice gave Bruce permission to wear the number 80 although the team had already retired it, however Bruce decided against it and instead wore 88.

2008 season In Week 2 of the 2008 season, Bruce had four receptions for 153 yards in a 33–30 overtime road win against the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 12, on the road against the Dallas Cowboys, he had eight receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown. On December 21, 2008, in a Week 16 game at St. Louis against his former team, the Rams, Bruce caught his 1,000th career reception – a 3-yard touchdown catch. St. Louis fans cheered on their former wide receiver, yelling "Bruuuuuuuuce" whenever he caught a pass, and cheered when he caught his 1,000th pass. In the 2008 season, he had 61 receptions for 835 yards and seven touchdowns.

2009 season After contemplating retirement in the offseason, he elected to return to the 49ers in 2009 for his 16th season, reasoning that he was there to "get in the playoffs again and win a Super Bowl". He finished the 2009 season with 21 receptions for 264 yards in ten games. He was inactive for six of the final eight games. The 49ers went 8–8 and missed the postseason.

On June 7, 2010, Bruce was traded from the 49ers to the Rams so that he would be able to retire as a Ram. Bruce was the last member of the former first-tenure Los Angeles Rams to retire.

Career statistics

NFL Legend Won the Super Bowl Led the league Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games ReceivingRushingPassing Fumbles GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD AttYdsAvgLngTDCmpAttPctYardsTDIntRtg Fum Lost 1994 LAR 12 0 21 272 13.0 34 3 122.020——————— 0 0 1995 STL 16 16 119 1,781 15.0 72 13 3175.7120——————— 2 1 1996 STL 16 16 84 1,338 15.9 70 7 144.0401250.0150135.4 1 1 1997 STL 12 12 56 815 14.6 59 5 ——————————— 1 0 1998 STL 5 5 32 457 14.3 80 1 13030.0300——————— 0 0 1999 STL 16 16 77 1,165 15.1 60 12 5326.4110——————— 0 0 2000 STL 16 16 87 1,471 16.9 78 9 11111.0110——————— 1 1 2001 STL 16 16 64 1,106 17.3 51 6 4235.8100——————— 3 1 2002 STL 16 16 79 1,075 13.6 34 7 3186.0130——————— 2 2 2003 STL 15 15 69 981 14.2 41 5 2178.514022100.06600118.7 0 0 2004 STL 16 16 89 1,292 14.5 56 6 —————020.000039.6 5 4 2005 STL 11 10 36 525 14.6 46 3 ———————————— 0 0 2006 STL 16 13 74 1,098 14.8 45 3 —————010.000039.6 0 0 2007 STL 14 12 55 733 13.3 37 4 2 -4 -2.0 -10——————— 0 0 2008 SF 16 15 61 835 13.7 63 7 1 -3 -3.0 -30010.000039.6 0 0 2009 SF 10 7 21 264 12.6 50 0 1 -8 -8.0 -80——————— 0 0 Career 223 201 1,024 15,208 14.9 80 91 251395.63003837.5810135.9 15 10

Postseason

GP !! GS !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD Att Yds Avg Lng TD

— — — — —

— — — — — 2001 STL 3 3 14 159 11.4 22 1 — — — — — 2003 STL 1 1 7 116 16.6 26 0 — — — — — 2004 STL 1 1 3 40 13.3 21 0 1 1 1.0 1 0 Career Bruce is nicknamed "The Reverend" because he wished to become one after he finished his football career; he also wanted to become a substitute teacher.

Bruce is married to Clegzette Bruce. They have two daughters.

Bruce is the elder cousin of Canadian Football League wide receiver Arland Bruce. Bruce is the younger cousin of NFL running back Derrick Moore.

Bruce is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

Philanthropy Since 1996, Isaac Bruce has provided tickets to home games to various schools and youth organizations, including partnering with Haz-Waste to provide jerseys and limousine rides for children. He was a United Way spokesman in 1996–97 and United Way African American Leadership Giver from 1997 to 1999. In 2008, he recorded a public service announcement and personal voice message for the RESPECT! Campaign against domestic violence.