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Rice on Bruce wearing #80: “It is OK with me.”

The link to the article.

One of the biggest things that came up with the 49ers when they signed Isaac Bruce was what number he would wear. Throughout his career, Bruce wore #80 with the Rams. Now, that would be a little difficult here in San Francisco. Ever since the legendary Jerry Rice left SF, no receiver has donned #80.

Rice was quoted in the article, saying he was OK if Bruce was allowed to wear #80. A great class act for Rice. Rice had the same issue when he went to Seattle and got permission from Steve Largent. But that’s a little different. It is Jerry Rice you know.

But this is Isaac Bruce. It’s not like he is some rookie or anything. He is one of the finest receivers this game has seen. But to have him wear Rice’s number? I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right. It’s like Joe Montana, Steve Young, or Ronnie Lott. No player has worn their number since they departed the Niners. It is respect for those players. And even though eventually the Niners will get to retiring all those numbers, still, it was untouched.

So if Bruce were to wear #80, I guess I can accept it. Rice said it was OK, so I should be OK. But should the Niners allow this to happen? Rice says yes out of respect, but the Niners should really think about this. How badly does Bruce need #80? And also, how much can we accept another man wearing a #80 jersey in San Francisco?

Maybe Bruce won’t wear it to avoid the hoopla. Maybe he’ll wear #89 or something. We’ll see.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 11:53 am and is filed under 49ers, Jerry Rice, Isaac Bruce, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.