“He’s a blue collar football player; he works like hell. Nothing comes easy for anybody, but the mans got unbelievable talent. Plus, he loves the game, and that’s the difference. He loves to compete. What else can you say about the man? He gives you all the pluses,” said former Jets assistant coach Dan Sekanovich regarding Bruce Smith.
It was due to this blue collar work ethic that Smith heard the uttering of the ‘Bruuuuuce’ chant echoed throughout NFL stadiums for nineteen years. It was this work ethic that sent him to the pro-bowl eleven times, that made him a two time AP defensive player of the year, and this work ethic that had him enshrined in Canton as a Hall of Famer. A man among men, Bruce Smith is an all-time great as his accolades and statistical performances more than back that up. Though something that cannot be stat-checked is Smiths work ethic, and his relentless play on every down.
Football was not something that Bruce just picked up along; he wasn’t a late bloomer or a raw prospect. Bruce was that rare talent perhaps arguable once in a generation type talent on the football field. From early on his potential shined, as he did not disappoint in college for his hometown Virginia Hokies. Finishing his college career with jaw-dropping numbers and accolades of forty-six career sacks, a consensus All-American, and the recipient of the Outland trophy that is awarded to the best collegiate player than season. All of this was just a simple formality on his way to a first overall selection in the 1985 draft by the Buffalo Bills and to eventually become the first Virginia Tech football player to be inducted into the hall of fame.
As gifted and talented Smith was don’t ever think he relied on it to get by. His personal choice word to be remembered by, “effort.” This effort though was not always the case however as noted by his former coach Marv Levy.
“He was overweight, self-indulgent, didn’t have great practice habits, all of those things. Two people had quite an impact in turning him around. One was his coveted teammate, Darryl Talley. He gave him that proverbial kick in the butt to get going. But the other, in the off-season, he went back to Virginia Tech to finish his degree, which is good, and there he met a woman counselor who put him on the right track in every respect. Boy, he dropped weight at the urging of her and Darryl, shaped up, got ready, his principles changed. He turned out to not only be the greatest player, he married that woman. And what a wife she was, his wife Carmen. So those people had a great impact on him. What a change in his practice habits, his excitement about playing the game, all of those things.”
It was that excitement and that push that catapulted Smith from being just another player in the league to an all time great. Ranked by NFL films as the thirty-first greatest player in league history, Smith would go on to become Buffalo’s all time sack leader after only four seasons with a whopping total of fifty-two. He would later go on to nearly quadruple this number becoming the first and only player to ever be welcomed into the two hundred-sack club.
As savvy as Smith was on a football field he was much more than a one trick pony as he has taken the steps to work on his life outside of football. Staying true to his roots Smith still resides near his alma matter of Virginia Tech working to keep going after football and not stay stagnate like so many others after there playing days come to an end. An investor and president of Bruce Smith enterprises, Bruce has more than filled that void of competitiveness that football gave him. “Bruce has a combination of instinct and intelligence. Not everyone possesses that. That’s why you see so many guys who get out of the game and can’t move forward. They go backward. Bruce has moved forward,” said Dan Hoffler, chairman of Armada Hoffler.
Bruce’s legacy all but speaks for itself as he is nothing less than a legend on and off of the field. Former teammate Jim Kelly said, “he was one of those guys when people talk about being the best, ‘I want to be the best. I want to do this. I want to do that.’ Bruce Smith was all about wanting to be the best possible football player he could be. He wanted to be the best that ever played, and pretty much, as I look at it, even though he was a teammate of mine, I think he definitely is one of the best defensive ends ever to play the game.”
A legend unlike any other Bruce is more than deserving of all that he has been able to accomplish. A key cog in four straight Bills Super Bowl appearances, one of two Bills to have their jerseys retired, and one amazing career, that was Bruce Smith.
