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Aundray Bruce

{{Short description|American football player (born 1966)}}

{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Aundray Bruce

| number = 93, 83, 56, 99

| position = Linebacker

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|4|30}}

| birth_place = Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 5

| weight_lb = 270

| high_school = Carver (Montgomery)

| college = Auburn

| draftyear = 1988

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 1

| pastteams =

| highlights =

| statlabel1 = Tackles

| statvalue1 = 275

| statlabel2 = Sacks

| statvalue2 = 32.0

| statlabel3 = Interceptions

| statvalue3 = 4

| statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries

| statvalue4 = 3

| pfr = BrucAu20

}}

Aundray Bruce (born April 30, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was an linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). As a college football player, he played defensive end for the Auburn Tigers before the Atlanta Falcons selected him with the first overall pick in the 1988 NFL draft. He played in the NFL for the Falcons and Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders.

Early life

Bruce was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He attended George Washington Carver High School in Montgomery. A high school phenom, Bruce started at tight end and outside linebacker. He also returned kicks and played four additional positions on offense (quarterback, running back, wide receiver, offensive tackle) and four other positions on defense (defensive tackle, defensive end, nose guard, cornerback). While he excelled in football, basketball was Bruce's first love. He led George Washington Carver High School to the 4-A basketball state championship in both his junior and senior years. As a senior, he was named the state tournament's MVP and won an All-Star game dunk contest.

College career

Bruce was named All-Southeastern Conference in 1986 and 1987, All-American in 1987, and Citrus Bowl MVP in 1987. He first garnered national attention in a game in 1987 against Georgia Tech by intercepting three passes and returning one for a touchdown and making 10 unassisted tackles. Entering the NFL Draft, he was saddled with expectations of becoming the next Lawrence Taylor, though once drafted was described as "unquestionably the least heralded No. 1 draft choice this decade."{{Cite web |last=George |first=Thomas |date=1988-07-10 |title=Falcons' Bruce Riding High And Promising Not to Fall |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/10/sports/falcons-bruce-riding-high-and-promising-not-to-fall.html |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=The New York Times}} He graduated from Auburn in 1988 as an education major.

Professional career

Bruce was drafted with the first overall pick in the 1988 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons.{{Cite web |title=1988 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1988/draft.htm |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/31/sports/sports-people-bruce-to-be-no-1.html|title= Sports People; Bruce to Be No. 1|work=The New York Times|date=March 31, 1988|access-date=September 16, 2007}} Bruce enjoyed his most prominent role on the Falcons 1991 playoff team when he saw spot duty on offense as a tight end as well as defense. He signed with the Los Angeles Raiders as a free agent in 1992 and finished his career with the organization. Bruce played in 151 games over his 11-season career, posting 32 sacks and 4 interceptions. While Bruce concluded his career with a 7-season tenure in Oakland, he is typically regarded as a draft bust. Despite being the #1 overall pick, he never made an All-Pro or Pro Bowl team, never had double-figure sack totals in a season, and only started 42 games. He only played for two playoff teams in his long career.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080619164023/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0804/nfl.draft.busts/content.2.html Top draft busts of the modern era]}}

NFL career statistics

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Team

! rowspan="2"| GP

! colspan="3"| Interceptions

! colspan="4"| Fumbles

! colspan="2"| Tackles

IntYdsTDFFFRYdsTDSckCmb
1988 || ATL

| 16 || 2 || 10 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 6.0 || 70

1989 || ATL

| 16 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 6.0 || 66

1990 || ATL

| 16 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 4.0 || 40

1991 || ATL

| 14 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0

1992 || LAR

| 16 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3.5 || 23

1993 || LAR

| 16 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2.0 || 11

1994 || LAR

| 16 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 5

1995 || OAK

| 14 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 5.5 || 30

1996 || OAK

| 16 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 4.0 || 21

1997 || OAK

| 10 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1.0 || 9

1998 || OAK

| 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0

colspan="2"| [Career https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BrucAu20.htm] || 151 || 4 || 11 || 1 || 9 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 32.0 || 275

Coaching career

Bruce is currently a defensive line coach for the Faulkner University Eagles in Montgomery, Alabama.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120928063044/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BRUCEAUN01 Aundray Bruce stats at DatabaseFootball.com]}}

{{1987 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}

{{NFL NumberOne Draft Picks}}

{{1988 NFL Draft}}

{{FalconsFirstPick}}

{{Atlanta Falcons 1988 draft navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Aundray}}

Category:1966 births

Category:Living people

Category:All-American college football players

Category:American football defensive ends

Category:American football linebackers

Category:Atlanta Falcons players

Category:Players of American football from Montgomery, Alabama

Category:Auburn Tigers football players

Category:Los Angeles Raiders players

Category:First overall NFL draft picks

Category:Oakland Raiders players