"I'd would say, 'Watch your mouth,'" Bruce said of advice he would offer the Rams. "Watch what you say about the team and the organization. And expect great things to happen."
Baldinger: Bruce one of the best
NFL Network analyst
Brian Baldinger recalled the first time that he met Isaac Bruce, whom he called a true pro and an example for younger players.
"When we talk about Bruce, we're talking about the quiet leader of an offense that defined football for a great five-year run. No team was more fun to watch than the Rams. Always, quietly going about his business, was Bruce. Let's hope the Hall of Fame voters listen to how The Rev played the game. He gets my vote." **More ...**
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Bruce retires
Bruce, 37, is retiring from the NFL after 16 seasons, 14 of which he spent with the Rams and set virtually every franchise receiving record. He's second in the NFL in career receiving yards with 15,208, tied for second in yards per catch (14.9), fifth in catches (1,024) and ninth in receiving touchdowns (91). He also helped the Rams win the Super Bowl in 2000.
The Rams plan to honor Bruce by retiring his jersey No. 80 during a Oct. 31 game against the Carolina Panthers.
"He was one of the guys, early in my career, that showed me what it meant to be an NFL player and how to work to become the best," former teammate Kurt Warner said in a statement.
Bruce was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1994, the year before they moved to St. Louis. He came to a team that was among the worst in the NFL -- a situation the current Rams, including No. 1 overall draft pick Sam Bradford -- can relate to: St. Louis was 1-15 in 2009.
Bruce played on only losing teams until 1999, when the arrival of Warner at quarterback, Marshall Faulk at running back and rookie Torry Holt as his counterpart at wide receiver helped to create the "Greatest Show on Turf." The Rams went 13-3 and defeated the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in a dramatic Super Bowl, with Bruce scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the final 2 minutes.
Bruce recalled that pivotal play as "slow motion," seeing Warner under pressure and having his arm hit as he let the ball go. Bruce adjusted to the underthrow and made the catch.
"I saw smoke in the air from the halftime show," he recalled. "I just kept my eyes on the football. It was like it was taking forever to get to me. When I caught the football, everything was in slow motion for me, but pretty much everyone around me was running fast."
Dick Vermeil coached St. Louis to a 9-23 record in two seasons before the 1999 turnaround.
"It was a great experience for both of us to work together, to grow together and go through the frustrations of losing to turn that program around, then share a world championship together," Vermeil told The Associated Press. "I think it was so deserving that he be the guy that makes the difference."
Former teammates and coaches recalled Bruce's professionalism and work ethic.
"To me, he was a complete receiver," said Mike Martz, the offensive coordinator in 1999 and the Rams' head coach from 2000 to '05. "The other part of him, the humility that he played his entire career with, spoke so well about who he is as a man."
"We came to this organization that was at the bottom of the barrel," Bruce said. "At that moment, I knew this was where I was supposed to be."
Bruce spent the past two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, who agreed to allow the Rams to acquire Bruce on Monday so he could retire with the organization with which he played 14 seasons.
Bruce said he doesn't know exactly what he'll do next, but he believes his career is worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I do believe in the next five years we'll be loading up trucks and we'll be heading to Canton," he said.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
