According to Mike Martz, San Francisco 49er's wide receiver Isaac Bruce is as fast as he's ever been:
Caveat #1: I love Ike. If not for his late-game heroics, this long-suffering former St. Louis Cardinals fan might never have seen a Super Bowl victory in his lifetime. As it stands, my team, the St. Louis Rams, won the big one, and they can't take that away from me (although given their recent play, they sure seem to be trying hard to do so).
Caveat #2: I'm a big Torry Holt fan as well. Heck, I even get nostalgic for Az "slippy fingers" Hakim.
Caveat #3: Isaac Bruce should be a hall-of-famer, and I wish him well in all but two games of the upcoming season.
Having said all that, Martz is higher than a weather balloon. For the past couple of seasons, Isaac and Tory have not been the receivers of old. In the glory days, nobody separated from defenders like The Reverend and Big-Game. Part of that was the scheme, no doubt. But a big part was their speed, and the precision of their routes. You just didn't see that kind of separation this past season. What you saw more often was a defender trying to occupy the same physical space as our wideouts. Rams' yards after catch has been awful as a result. Aren't we all nostalgic for the catch, run 20 yards, give-up-slide days of old?
So, either Ike has lost a step or two, or defenders have gained a step or two. The end result is the same.
"Most receivers do lose a step at 36 (which Bruce will turn in November)," Martz said, "but I haven't seen that with him. Isaac has always been an exception. If he's lost a step, I don't see it. He's like Jerry Rice; he's always kept himself in impeccable shape."
Caveat #1: I love Ike. If not for his late-game heroics, this long-suffering former St. Louis Cardinals fan might never have seen a Super Bowl victory in his lifetime. As it stands, my team, the St. Louis Rams, won the big one, and they can't take that away from me (although given their recent play, they sure seem to be trying hard to do so).
Caveat #2: I'm a big Torry Holt fan as well. Heck, I even get nostalgic for Az "slippy fingers" Hakim.
Caveat #3: Isaac Bruce should be a hall-of-famer, and I wish him well in all but two games of the upcoming season.
Having said all that, Martz is higher than a weather balloon. For the past couple of seasons, Isaac and Tory have not been the receivers of old. In the glory days, nobody separated from defenders like The Reverend and Big-Game. Part of that was the scheme, no doubt. But a big part was their speed, and the precision of their routes. You just didn't see that kind of separation this past season. What you saw more often was a defender trying to occupy the same physical space as our wideouts. Rams' yards after catch has been awful as a result. Aren't we all nostalgic for the catch, run 20 yards, give-up-slide days of old?
So, either Ike has lost a step or two, or defenders have gained a step or two. The end result is the same.
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