Aundray Bruce (born April 30, 1966) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). As a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player, he played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

before the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

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 Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. 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 The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

in 1986 and 1987,

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 1987, and

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Florida Classic. The g ...

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

in 1987. He first garnered national attention in a game in 1987 against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

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 Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959), nicknamed "L.T.", is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the New York Giants. He is almost universally regard ...

, though once drafted was described as "unquestionably the least heralded No. 1 draft choice this decade." 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

. 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 The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

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.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

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

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Aundray 1966 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive ends American football linebackers Atlanta Falcons players Players of American football from Montgomery, Alabama Auburn Tigers football players Los Angeles Raiders players First overall NFL draft picks Oakland Raiders players