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<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-report/isaac-on-hall-in-my-mind-i-m-already-there/article_e20ef8f8-93eb-5c70-b21b-10f58f7a360c.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... a360c.html</a>
Isaac Bruce was happy to see Chris Carter inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last weekend, a selection that could break what has been a logjam at the wide receiver position.
“I hope it does open the door for a guy like Tim Brown, and an Andre Reed, and Henry Ellard,” Bruce said. “Those are guys who really made a huge mark on this game, guys that I looked up to when I was coming out. I was glad to see Cris get in there. It’s truly well deserved.”
As for Bruce’s own prospects for the Hall — he’s eligible for the Class of 2015 — he doesn’t sound worried. Far from it.
[hilite]“Well, in my mind, I’m already there,” Bruce said. “I’m already preparing my speech. I hope you come, too.”
For those who know Bruce, that’s more a case of the power of positive thinking than cockiness[/hilite]. He’s a man with tremendous will, an attribute that made him the competitor he was for 16 seasons in the NFL — the first 14 with the Rams.
* * *
THE LEGACY
No matter what any receiver — or group of receivers — does for the Rams, the standard will always be Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl of the Greatest Show on Turf.
“That’s just the way it is,” Bruce said, grinning. “But when you look at it, the Rams have a long history of having great receivers.”
From Holt and Bruce, to Ellard and Flipper Anderson, all the way back to Crazylegs Hirsch and Tom Fears.
“Exactly,” Bruce said. “We’ve had a lot of guys here. That’s part of that Hollywood act that we had (as the Los Angeles Rams). Fortunately it came here to St. Louis, and Torry, myself, Az, we just carried it on.”
* * *
COACHING ON HIS TERMS
Former Rams safety Keith Lyle, who was in St. Louis over the weekend for a book signing, was amused to see Bruce — his former teammate — on the field coaching. Again.
“My thing is, when are they going to get Isaac to coach?” Lyle said, laughing. “He’s always out here coaching.”
Bruce does seem to make training camp coaching appearances on a regular basis. He has done it with Lovie Smith and Mike Martz in Chicago, helped wide receivers coach Ellard with the New York Jets, and now he’s had a couple such stints with the Rams.
“I like going home at night,” Bruce said. “Honestly. Plus, I have a three-year old daughter, and an eight-year marriage. So I’m nourishing that right now. Coaching’s not in the plans.”
At least not full-time coaching.
* * *
NO PADS
Like many wide receivers, Bruce hated to wear knee or thigh pads and didn’t do so in games. No pads made you faster. At least that was the theory. That concept so frustrated Dick Vermeil when he was Rams coach that during training camp in Macomb, Ill., he once taped huge sponges to his knees — looking almost like a hockey goalie — to stress the importance of wearing knee and thigh pads.
No surprise then that Bruce is totally against the new safety-related rule making it mandatory to wear such pads.
“The only pads I wore were shoulder pads,” Bruce said. “Put my shoulder pads on, pull my pants up, and I’m ready to go.”
There will be a league observer at every game this season monitoring players to make sure they are wearing knee and thigh pads.
[hilite]“If I was trying to beat the system, I guess I’d get a marker or something,” Bruce said. “Draw an outline of a thigh pad, so it would look like I had something. Because they’re very thin — what they (wear). Some kind of way, I’d try to get over that.”[/hilite]
* * *
MARATHON MAN
Bruce will be running the streets of St. Louis this fall. He plans to participate in the St. Louis Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Oct. 27.
“I’m gonna run my first marathon; that’s on my bucket list,” Bruce said. “I’m gonna be getting in shape in the next 12 weeks.”
Isaac Bruce was happy to see Chris Carter inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last weekend, a selection that could break what has been a logjam at the wide receiver position.
“I hope it does open the door for a guy like Tim Brown, and an Andre Reed, and Henry Ellard,” Bruce said. “Those are guys who really made a huge mark on this game, guys that I looked up to when I was coming out. I was glad to see Cris get in there. It’s truly well deserved.”
As for Bruce’s own prospects for the Hall — he’s eligible for the Class of 2015 — he doesn’t sound worried. Far from it.
[hilite]“Well, in my mind, I’m already there,” Bruce said. “I’m already preparing my speech. I hope you come, too.”
For those who know Bruce, that’s more a case of the power of positive thinking than cockiness[/hilite]. He’s a man with tremendous will, an attribute that made him the competitor he was for 16 seasons in the NFL — the first 14 with the Rams.
* * *
THE LEGACY
No matter what any receiver — or group of receivers — does for the Rams, the standard will always be Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl of the Greatest Show on Turf.
“That’s just the way it is,” Bruce said, grinning. “But when you look at it, the Rams have a long history of having great receivers.”
From Holt and Bruce, to Ellard and Flipper Anderson, all the way back to Crazylegs Hirsch and Tom Fears.
“Exactly,” Bruce said. “We’ve had a lot of guys here. That’s part of that Hollywood act that we had (as the Los Angeles Rams). Fortunately it came here to St. Louis, and Torry, myself, Az, we just carried it on.”
* * *
COACHING ON HIS TERMS
Former Rams safety Keith Lyle, who was in St. Louis over the weekend for a book signing, was amused to see Bruce — his former teammate — on the field coaching. Again.
“My thing is, when are they going to get Isaac to coach?” Lyle said, laughing. “He’s always out here coaching.”
Bruce does seem to make training camp coaching appearances on a regular basis. He has done it with Lovie Smith and Mike Martz in Chicago, helped wide receivers coach Ellard with the New York Jets, and now he’s had a couple such stints with the Rams.
“I like going home at night,” Bruce said. “Honestly. Plus, I have a three-year old daughter, and an eight-year marriage. So I’m nourishing that right now. Coaching’s not in the plans.”
At least not full-time coaching.
* * *
NO PADS
Like many wide receivers, Bruce hated to wear knee or thigh pads and didn’t do so in games. No pads made you faster. At least that was the theory. That concept so frustrated Dick Vermeil when he was Rams coach that during training camp in Macomb, Ill., he once taped huge sponges to his knees — looking almost like a hockey goalie — to stress the importance of wearing knee and thigh pads.
No surprise then that Bruce is totally against the new safety-related rule making it mandatory to wear such pads.
“The only pads I wore were shoulder pads,” Bruce said. “Put my shoulder pads on, pull my pants up, and I’m ready to go.”
There will be a league observer at every game this season monitoring players to make sure they are wearing knee and thigh pads.
[hilite]“If I was trying to beat the system, I guess I’d get a marker or something,” Bruce said. “Draw an outline of a thigh pad, so it would look like I had something. Because they’re very thin — what they (wear). Some kind of way, I’d try to get over that.”[/hilite]
* * *
MARATHON MAN
Bruce will be running the streets of St. Louis this fall. He plans to participate in the St. Louis Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Oct. 27.
“I’m gonna run my first marathon; that’s on my bucket list,” Bruce said. “I’m gonna be getting in shape in the next 12 weeks.”
