Bruce Charles Armstrong (born September 7, 1965) 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 offensive tackle in the

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(NFL) from 1987 to 2000, playing all 14 seasons with the

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. He was selected in the first round (23rd overall) in the 1987 NFL Draft out of

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, where he was a four-year varsity athlete and was named the "Most Outstanding Lineman" following his senior season. He was elected to play in six

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s, in 1990,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, 1995, 1996,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. The only offensive linemen to play in more Pro Bowls as a Patriot are Hall-of-Famer John Hannah and Jon Morris. Armstrong is one of only 29 Patriots to have been inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame and one of only eight players to have his number retired. Of 220 possible non-strike games, Armstrong started in 212 (including the last 118 of his career consecutively), which until 2015, made him the single player with the most starts of any Patriot. The only games he missed were in the second half of the 1992 season, after tearing the medial collateral ligament and both his

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and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee against the

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in November of that year. Though it was feared that the injury would be a career-ending one, Armstrong rebounded and was back the next season. Armstrong and his wife, Melinda Yvette Armstrong, recently bought and now operate a salon in Alpharetta, Georgia. They have two children: Candace and Nicholas.

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Bruce American football offensive tackles 1965 births Living people Miami Central Senior High School alumni New England Patriots players American Conference Pro Bowl players Louisville Cardinals football players NFL players with retired numbers Players of American football from Miami