Bruce Perry (born March 22, 1981) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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) for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

. He was the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

Offensive Player of the Year as just a sophomore in 2001, but the rest of his career at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, and as a professional, was hampered by numerous injuries.

Early life

Perry is a Philadelphia native and attended George Washington High School. He also attended

Cardinal Dougherty High School file:Muziekconcours te Kerkrade, tijdens de marswedstrijden, Bestanddeelnr 919-3609.jpg, upright=1.35, CDHS marching band at the World Music Championship 1966 Cardinal Dougherty High School (CDHS) was a private school, private, Roman Catholic hig ...

in Philadelphia.

College career

Perry played

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 ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and started all 11 games as a sophomore. That year, he rushed 219 times for 1,242 yards and ten touchdowns in addition to catching 40 passes for 359 yards and two touchdowns, leading Maryland to an ACC Championship and an appearance in the

2002 Orange Bowl The 2002 FedEx Orange Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Florida Gators and the ACC champion Maryland Terrapins on January 2, 2002. Florida defeated Maryland 56–23. The game was part of the 2001–2002 Bowl Cham ...

. He won ACC Offensive Player of the Year as the second non-senior to do so and was a second-team All-American. Perry was also a first-team All ACC selection and was a finalist for the

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

. Perry ranked 19th in the NCAA in rushing yards per game and ninth in all purpose yards per game. Against Wake Forest, Perry rushed for 276 yards. In his junior year, Perry was out with an injury until an October game against Duke. He immediately injured himself in the Duke game, and did not start again for the rest of the season. Perry appeared in five more games in 2002, averaging 4.7 yards per carry on the season. As a senior, Perry started four games and played in nine. He finished with 646 rushing yards despite being hampered by injuries all season. Against Wake Forest, Perry had 25 carries for 237 yards and three touchdowns. He finished his college career ranked fourth among Maryland's career rushing leaders.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Perry was drafted by the Eagles in the seventh round of the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

. He spent his entire

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. After the 2005 pre-season, he was placed on the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. Later in the season, he was activated and saw his first

start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

in the final game of the regular season. Perry appeared in the 2006 pre-season and sustained a serious

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

in the game. Even though Perry made the team, he was converted to

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and then was cut in September when the Eagles signed veteran Dexter Wynn for depth at cornerback. The team re-signed Perry to the practice squad. He was released on January 2, 2007.

Montreal Alouettes

Perry signed with the

in 2007 but on July 12, 2007, it was announced that he had suffered a season-ending injury.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Bruce 1981 births Living people American football running backs Players of American football from Philadelphia Players of Canadian football from Philadelphia Maryland Terrapins football players Philadelphia Eagles players Montreal Alouettes players Canadian football running backs