Welcome to Numbers Wednesday, where we write posts on players who do and do not care about them.
We led off with DeMarco Murraynot caring about his stats. Right around the same time that was published, Rams great Isaac Bruce was joining powerhouse morning show Good Morning Football to discuss a myriad of topics, including his Hall of Fame candidacy.
Bruce was a finalist for the most recent class, but was left behind as former teammate Kurt Warner got the call to join the Hall. For Bruce, who retired in 2009, it should only be a matter of when, not if.
The receiver, who starred as part of the "Greatest Show on Turf" St. Louis Rams, recorded eight 1,000-plus-yard seasons in his career. He broke 15,208 yards receiving for his career (to go with 91 touchdowns) and retired with the second-most receiving yards of all-time, trailing only Jerry Rice in the category (he's now fourth all-time).
If you want to pound the record books when making Bruce's case, that should be enough. He agrees.
"When I retired, I was second [in receiving yards] all-time," Bruce said while speaking with GMFB's Kay Adams, Peter Schrager, Nate Burleson and Kyle Brandt. "The second person ever to touch 15,000 yards. On top of that, I was a guy who performed on the biggest stage. I closed out a game, Super Bowl XXXIV. It's everybody's dream when you're in your backyard. You want to have the winning touchdown catch, and that was me. It actually happened in my career.
"When you just look at the numbers, if you're really building cases off of numbers, how do you say no?"
Bruce is right -- you'd be hard-pressed to find someone with a legitimate reason to say no. There simply isn't a credible argument to the contrary.
It's a common expectation to see Bruce on stage in Canton, Ohio, in the next few years. The best receiver in one of modern football's best offenses ever will have his own bust -- and out of appreciation for his contributions to the game, it should be sooner, rather than later.
