Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuce! Bills to retire Bruce Smith's number!

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BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!!!!!

Sorry, just had to do it

Shoulda retired it while he was still playing...s/...kinda

Bruce Smith is a rarity in so many ways...I remember finally getting the nerve up to talk to him when I saw him at a bar off the beaten path near the VB oceanfront years ago. I knew he was a savvy real estate investor, and I chatted with him a bit about that - Central America, in particular - he was very informed.

As for his amazing football career, I had to just refresh my memory, and did some wiki-looks:

"As Smith spent most of his career in a 3–4 defensive scheme, a defensive scheme not geared toward creating sack opportunities for defensive ends, many consider the record particularly impressive.[2] Indeed, Smith's peers elected him to the Pro Bowl every season from 1987 to 1998 (with the exception of his injury-laden 1991 season). In 1987, he was named the Pro Bowl MVP. Smith was twice named the AP's NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1996), twice named the NEA Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1993) and four times named UPI's AFC Defensive Player of the Year (1987, 1988, 1990, 1996)."

The man brought the A game for a loonng, long, time, and never missed a beat.

A picture is worth a thousand words. A gif is worth a million.

Amen! Bruce still holds the NFL career sack record......impressive and amazing indeed!

Long live Rasche Hall

and based off the trending of NFL rule changes, he most likely will have that record for a very long time.

"Welcome to the Terror Dome." -- Corey Moore

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it.

"How you doin', Randy?"

Awesome, great for Bruce. I met him in VB about 15 years ago as an awestruck
middle schooler. Passed by him post game outside lane north last season, fairly inebriated. I turned back and yelled, "Bruuuuce!" And he turned around and gave me a fist bump, love that guy, GOAT.

Wow my dyslexic brain read this while accidently omitting one key part. As a result it read like this...

I met him in VB about 15 years ago as an awestruck middle schooler. Passed by him post game outside lane north last season, fairly inebriated.

Using /s is for cowards.

Bruce is awesome!

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, and as a great player, he deserves it.

Bruce Smith is really an ideal representative of Virginia Tech athletics. The last time I saw him he went out of his way to talk to some Hokies before one of the games last season.

I literally bumped into Bruce at a bar in VB once. The dude still felt like I had bumped into a brick wall and I had to shudder at the thought of him in his prime laying his shoulder into a QB with a full head of steam.

Obligatory:

Well deserved, congrats to Bruce and his family!

In Sam Rogers we trust.

Shall we start the thread of other really awesome Bruces that aren't as awesome as Bruce Smith?

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"What are you going to do, stab me? - Quote from Man Stabbed

Onward and upward

Am I the only one that just assumed his number was already retired??

Corey Moore's inspiration right there

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)..

Those eyes... I know I've seen them elsewhere.

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I'm not gonna lie, I'm actually surprised it wasn't already retired. You'd think that would have been done shortly after he retired, as he was truly that great a player for them.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

A quick perusal of footballdb.com, and it doesn't look like anyone has worn 78 for the Bills since Bruce Smith left in 1999. So, it's been unofficially retired for a while.