The Big Interview: Isaac Bruce on avoiding concussions, Sam Bradford and the rise of Kurt Warner

Josiah Schlatter: Hey Isaac, I don’t know if I can forgive you for crushing my dreams during your Greatest Show on Turf days when you kept beating the Eagles.

Isaac Bruce: Yeah man, a couple times actually.

JS: Those teams back in the late 90′s and early 2000′s were so DOMINANT, but how did you feel when Trent Green went down and this nobody quarterback Kurt Warner stepped in, what was your first reaction?

Bruce: Well first of all with Trent Green going down, I was really disappointed for him because I knew how hard he worked and he finally got a job where he got to be the starting quarterback for the team so initially as a friend my heart went out for him and then Kurt Warner emerged and everything all of a sudden was how we expected it to be. We had a lot of playmakers on the team so Kurt was the facilitator and he did a great job doing it.

JS: Now when you first saw Kurt Warner, he was the backup quarterback and not really all that athletic looking, obviously, did you think, “Oh man, season over.”

Bruce: Well by that point I’d learned not to judge a book by its cover so I gave him his due respect and watched him come in and show what he could do. He had an opportunity and he ran away with it and he was making history.

JS: Let’s talk about the NFC West right now; do you think it’s odd that no team is going to win the division with a winning record?

Bruce: It’s kind of odd but it’s not anything new. 7-9 and 8-8 is only one game. I was actually a part of a team that went to the playoffs at 8-8. We managed to get in there and when you get in the playoffs you throw the records right out the window because it’s a round robin and when you get an opportunity to play another team, anything can happen. I think most of the pressure is on the home team in the playoffs. They’re expected to perform at a certain level and they expect the crowd to push them. It’s a playoff game and a lot of things can happen.

JS: What are your thoughts on the 2010 St. Louis Rams. They have not really been successful in 3-4 years and all of a sudden they’re first in the NFC West. You think they’re going to wilt under the pressure, or do they have it?

Bruce: Well, you know what, I think the last three seasons have been a bit challenging but at the same time this is where they’ve wanted to be. They don’t want four years of futility, they want to go out and start making the playoffs. That was the goal. SO it’s not a surprise to see they’re in the mix of things and they have a chance to win the division this year because it’s what they set out to do by taking players in the draft and to go out and get free agents who want to win. They didn’t come in to lose. I’m not surprised at all with the turn around.

JS: Have you been impressed with Sam Bradford?

Bruce: Yeah I’m pretty impressed with Sam. He’s a pretty good quarterback who looks beyond his seasons. I think his time back in college at Oklahoma really prepared him and it’s paying dividends right now for what we’re seeing. Since he’s been a starter since day one it’s really helped him.

JS: Anything thoughts cross your mind to suit back up and catch some balls from Sam Bradford? They really need some WR help.

Bruce: Haha, you know I keep getting that question so I’ll say…no. My football playing days are over and I’m moving on to bigger and better things now.

JS: That St. Louis Rams team of old with Az Hakim and Torry Holt and Ricky Proehl was amazing. When you looked around the locker room and saw all these weapons, did you think, “Man we HAVE to win a Super Bowl.”

Bruce: You know what? From 1999 up until 2005 coming in every year we thought we had an opportunity to not only play in the Super Bowl but to win a championship. We had enough talent and confidence going in so I wasn’t really surprised with the success that we had. Looking at those guys, we had enough talent to take the guys to the next level.

JS: I remember the iconic celebration with Torry Holt where you guys started running down the field and started talking to each other as you coasted into the end zone. How’d that come about?

Bruce: You know that was actually Az and Torry. I was somewhere blocking. But I thought, “Man, that’s a special moment.” That’s something you never forget. We were all about blocking for each to make sure our buddies didn’t get hit and that’s exactly what Torry was doing. It just so happens there was nobody to block! So they decided to race each other into the end zone. I thought it was sweet.

JS: How big is that to have a brotherhood of WR’s where you all are looking out for each other. I know a lot of WR’s stop running when another guy catches the ball but you guys went out and blocked for each other. How big is that to a football team?

Bruce: Oh, it’s big. I believe if you want to watch a game, buy a ticket. If you want to be in a game your job is to do all that you can to make sure your guys made it to the end zone. We really stressed that in meeting rooms and we made sure we were blocking for each other so we can sit back in meeting rooms and enjoy the fruits of our labor on Sunday.

JS: You guys had all of those weapons, but the guy who put it all together was Marshall Faulk. How great was he?

Bruce: Oh yeah. He was the main guy. Marshall was like a second quarterback on the field. One of the smartest players I’ve ever played with and a superb player. He was the main problem for defenses to game plan against. We could split him out at wide receiver, he could have been a third receiver on another team he was that good. He did a lot of different things and it was hard to contain him, and you couldn’t really stack the box against him because of what we had on the outside. That gave him the opportunity to run up and down the field all day long.

JS: The 2010 Philadelphia Eagles are having a sublime season, do you see a little bit of the 1999 Rams in them, with all of those weapons and a great quarterback?

Bruce: Yep. Well first of all I see the confidence. Confidence breeds confidence and you can just see that. It’s really evident when you see the team in a third and fifteen and those guys as you can tell believe that they can get those yards and believing is everything. They have talent all over the field at every position and Mike Vick is just the X-factor right now. Any time there’s no place to go with the football he can change a game. He changes the game, he changes the approach by opposing defenses and he instills confidence in his defense and special teams and coaching staff because of his amazing abilities. They can get the job done.

JS: Of any quarterback in the NFL, who would you most want to get the ball from?

Bruce: Haha, you know I always said when I was playing, whoever’s back there just throw it my way and we’ll be successful. But if I had to pick an all time quarterback I’d have to pick Dan Marino.

JS: How about Steve Young?

Bruce: Oh, I could work with Steve Young. We could make a lot of good music.

JS: As a wide receiver, how frustrating is it to have a young quarterback who isn’t really seeing all of the field. You might be completely wide open but he’s freaking out behind center and the poor guy can’t see anything and is forcing the ball. How frustrating is that?

Bruce: It’s not an opportunity to become frustrated, it’s an opportunity to teach and to nourish and encourage that guy. Help him out. Make sure he gets better. He’ll get better with encouragement and experience so it’s not a time to get frustrated and harp on what he’s not doing but to focus on what he can be doing and what he’s doing right. I did get frustrated at times when there were injuries and a new guy was behind center but I settled down and made sure we all played together.

JS: You see guys like Terrell Owens rip apart Carson Palmer almost automatically when a mistake is made turn on the anger and flip out on the poor guy, and that’s not helping anybody. You see anybody do that on the field?

Bruce: Oh, of course. Emotions are a huge part of football. There comes a time when you have to control your emotions because you’re putting your future in jeopardy. It’s important to control your emotions and to learn how to from other football players who are put in that position because it’ll benefit the entire team and not just the player himself.

JS: You won a Super Bowl but you won a special Super Bowl because Dick Vermeil was your coach. How great was it to look over and see Dick Vermeil bawling his eyes out and loving everybody?

Bruce: It was awesome. I think we put in a lot of hard work together, with the coaching staff and organization as a whole to get ourselves in that position and once the game came we were able to take advantage of it. Dick’s a great coach, a great motivator and above all he was loyal. I had a lot of respect for coach.

JS: When you saw Kurt Warner start struggling with the Giants in the mid 2000′s what were you thinking? Were you saying, “Wait, that’s the same guy who was throwing 40 touchdowns for me and now he’s fumbling all over the place?” What was your reaction?

Bruce: I didn’t have a reaction because I knew once he had another opportunity to go in and play he’d go in and make some plays. Given that opportunity, he was the Kurt Warner that I knew.

JS: I have a question for wide receivers- You guys catch so many footballs. How much greater are you at catching every items than the regular man?

Bruce: Well I probably have a lot more practice than you have. Imagine yourself getting a lot more practice catching balls. You’ll become better. That comes with everything. You practice controlling your emotions, you get better. Practice at everything will make you better at whatever you endeavor to try.

JS: How many fingers have you broken? I know Torry has that really messed up finger he’s always showing off.

Bruce: I never broke fingers, I never broke bones.

JS: Oh really! I guess proper catching technique prevented that.

Bruce: (laughs) I guess so.

JS: As a wide receiver, balls are coming at you pretty hard. What do you think about getting a radar gun for throws like baseball has for pitches?

Bruce: I think it’d be pretty interesting. Some of those guys have really strong arms where they have to stick that football into pretty small spaces. Look at Brett Favre for example. Brady has a strong arm too. But at times they take a little off the ball in certain situations to get that touch and place the ball where it needs to be. I wouldn’t mind it. In fact, I’d love to see how hard a guy could throw.

JS: So it’d be pretty cool?

Bruce: It’d be VERY cool.

JS: I think we should try to get that done, huh?

Bruce: Oh yeah. Why not? Yes.

JS: Now that you’re retired, are you still thinking about playing football recreationally?

Bruce: Oh, definitely. Just because you’re retired I don’t think you lose your competitive nature. In football you want to see your competitiveness grow but you have to make sure you have righteous roots. You want to be competing for the right reasons.

JS: I was talking to Jason Sehorn a couple weeks ago and he said now that he’s played football in the NFL he has no interest in playing football again for fun. I thought that was a little odd.

Bruce: Oh, no. As far as regular competitive playing I’ve gotten it all out of me, and I’m sure he feels the same way, but my interest in watching it is as high as ever. I’m not going to strap on the old helmet and play again though. I’m done with that.

JS: As an NFL player, did you ever think, “Man, if I scored a touchdown here it could really help my fantasy owners.”?

Bruce: Not at all. I did get a lot of thank you’s for it though.

JS: You think any players do it?

Bruce: Probably. With it being as big as it is with the growth of it, I’m sure some guys have some fantasy football teams.

JS: With the Austin Collie situation where the poor guy got three concussions in three games, how big is it that we need to protect our players?

Bruce: Players should start doing little things to protect themselves like knowing the situations when there’s no more yards to get, go ahead and take it to the turf because the job is to catch the football and protect yourself. There’s a way to do it and I think guys should be learning how to protect their heads in practice and meeting rooms to ensure their safety. There’s a lot of guys who’ve played for a long time who didn’t get a lot of concussions, and other players should learn from them. I think you’ll see the concussion levels going down if they get guidance.

JS: For you personally, did you suffer a lot of concussions?

Bruce: Not a lot. I’ve suffered four.

JS: What do you think when you see Austin Collie getting his head smashed in. Do you think he could have protected himself a little better or was that just unlucky?

Bruce: I think the one in Philly he could have done a better job of snatching the ball and then gather himself to protect his head. Speaking for myself when I played, I pretty much knew where everybody was at all times and where they were coming from so having that knowledge after I caught the football helped me a lot.

JS: You think coming back as a wide receivers coach to teach these players how to protect their heads may be in your future?

Bruce: Of course.

Isaac is working with Procter & Gamble (P&G) in support of its official NFL sponsorship, “Take it to the House” and the St. Louis-area semi-finalist in the program’s photo contest, Jessica Lefort. Lefort submitted a picture of how she and her football family celebrate NFL game day (photo is below) and has won: a $10,000 donation to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis in support of NFL PLAY 60, which encourages kids to be active for 60 minutes a day; a meet-and-greet with Bruce; a year’s supply of P&G’s products and a chance to win a trip to the 2011 Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

For more information on the program and the contest, visit www.facebook.com/takeittothehouse.