ST. LOUIS -- Isaac Bruce has been a member of the Rams so
long, he was with the team back when it was in Los Angeles.
Now comes the reward for his longevity: Jerry Rice's retirement
earlier this week makes Bruce the leader among active players on
the career receiving yardage list.
"It's big," Bruce said. "It means a little to me, but Jerry
will always be No. 1 in my eyes."
Bruce is entering his 12th season with the Rams, who in their
final year on the West Coast in 1994 made him a second-round pick
out of Memphis. And he's showing no signs of slowing after ranking
among the leaders with 89 catches, a 14.5-yard average and six
touchdowns last season.
He's coming off his seventh career 1,000-yard season.
"I deal with getting better," Bruce said. "I always look to
add steps, not lose steps."
Bruce is climbing the NFL career charts, too. He enters Sunday's
opener at San Francisco needing 82 yards to pass Hall of Famer Don
Maynard for 12th on the career list and 153 to surpass Michael
Irvin for 11th. With 74 touchdowns, Bruce is he's two shy of moving
into 20th place.
Throughout his career, he's done his job without fanfare or
histrionics.
"Does he carry a Bic pen? No, I don't think he does," coach
Mike Martz said. "Does he have a cell phone? No, I don't think he
does. Is he quiet, humble, respectful? Is he everything you want a
player to be? Absolutely.
"Find a flaw in Isaac Bruce, I challenge anybody."
Bruce's accomplishments pale in comparison with Rice, who has 38
league records, including career receptions (1,549), yards
receiving (22,895) and touchdowns receiving (197).
There's no shame in that. He's just like every other wide
receiver, operating in Rice's rather large shadow.
"Just in one sentence, he's what every receiver in this league
aims to be," Bruce said. "We'll miss him."
But Bruce concedes nothing to Rice's dominance. With time and
health, he believes he can even challenge those records.
Bruce said he never really got to know Rice. But he squared off
against him often enough, twice per season when Rice was with the
49ers from 1994 to 2000.
And it's probably no coincidence that Bruce has had some big
games against San Francisco, including an eight-catch, 188-yard
game in 2000; a nine-catch, 173-yarder in 1995; a 134-yard game in
1999; and a 129-yarder in 2000. He caught 11 passes against the
49ers in another '99 game.
Bruce believes the Rams' offense this year has the capability of
challenging the outfit nicknamed the Greatest Show on Turf from
1999-2001 when Kurt Warner was in his heyday. The Rams still have
the 1-2 receiving combination of Torry Holt and Bruce, Steven
Jackson is set to begin his first year as starter with Marshall
Faulk as the all-purpose backup and there's speedy depth at wide
receiver with Kevin Curtis and Shaun McDonald.
Quarterback Marc Bulger is coming off his best season, and the
team believes he's ready to make a jump to elite status. Bruce said
he notices "an air of confidence."
"I think he realizes what he means to this team and what he
means to this offense," Bruce said. "It was very evident when he
went down last year against the 49ers at home and we missed him for
two games.
"I believe just having him in the offense makes everything go a
lot smoother."
The Rams led the NFL in scoring from 1999-2001, topping 500
points each season, although they had fallen to the middle of the
pack in recent years.
"I believe we'll score a lot of points, we'll run the ball
extremely well and it'll give guys on our side a chance to get
downfield and make bigger and longer plays and put more points on
the board," Bruce said. "It'll be close to it, but it's hard to
match."