St. Louis football just can't get any respect. First from Stan Kroenke, then the NFL, and now the NFL Hall of Fame voting committee.
Isaac Bruce, aka the Reverend, has been denied entry to the NFL Hall of Fame once again. The despicable week continues for St. Louis football fans.
What's wrong with Bruce's resume? We aren't talking about a charity case here, folks.
During his 16-year career, Bruce accumulated 15,208 yards and caught 91 touchdown passes.
He brought in 1,024 receptions during that time, made four Pro Bowls, was a second team All Pro, and also, won a Super Bowl.
Can you forget Bruce coming back to catch an under-thrown Kurt Warner pass in the Super Bowl that helped put the Rams ahead 19 years ago? I can. All Bruce did was go across the middle, run routes like a machine, and put up the numbers necessary to get in.
Was he as flashy as Terrell Owens? No, but that was a good thing.
Bruce let his actions speak on the field, instead of crying about his quarterback and publicly whining. When the Rams were terrible, Bruce didn't sulk and balk at the media; he kept his head down and played football. He was proud to be in the NFL.
But don't let that make you think winning wasn't important to him. When Trent Green went down with that fateful knee injury in the preseason, Bruce slammed his helmet and screamed in rage. It wasn't an ego-based rage moment. Bruce simply wanted to win that bad. He knew Green was the team's best shot. And then Kurt Warner stepped in, and the Greatest Show on Turf was born.
Bruce performed at a high level, good team or not, for over 15 seasons in the NFL
Refusing to honor him shows you how petty, short-sighted, and generally wrong the NFL is these days. Right when you think a little integrity can be shown and a respectful layup from the league can be slammed home, the ball is dropped by the voting committee at the goal line.
Then again, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has kept a lot of good players out of the building for some reason. Bruce is the latest snub.
Maybe if he got Jerry Jones to talk to the voters, he'd have a better chance of getting a vote moved in the right direction.
It's too bad. Not for St. Louis football fans. For Bruce. He deserves to be in there, and keeps getting denied for a reason that probably lacks explanation. The latest head-shaking instance with the National Football League and their HOF voters.
I wish I could say the lack of sharp voting was merely due to too many hits to the head, but I don't think that would cut it.
Maybe next year, Reverend. Common sense is moving at a dial-up speed pace these days in some rooms.
