The story of Bruce Irvin and my time with him at Mt. SAC

[Jameson]

For those of you who do not know - I am aka James Choy ... the person who wrote the feature story on Bruce when he was in Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA years ago.

Bruce at the time was a real low key guy - he was all business on the field doing what he does best -- pass rush. At Mt. SAC he was looked up to buy his peers. His defensive coaches Iona Uiagaleilei and Tony Torres have made a name for themselves in acquiring defensive talent.
prac
I remmber Bruce's first year when he came to Mt. SAC - I hardly knew him ... and much of the attention was on Hebron Loni Fangupo.. who you know was just released by Seahawks in week 16 and went to Steelers.

Fangupo was playing under Pete Carroll at USC couple years ago before transferring to BYU.

Not many outside of the team knew much of Bruce in his first year at Mt. SAC.
ba
However in the 2nd year --- I took time out to chat with him many a time after practices --- we went to eat lunch (the day i interviewed him and i learned much about his life before WVA and you guys knew about him in news articles.

During the Mt. SAC season, Bruce was a sacking monster --- my fondest memory was when he sacked Joe Montana's son back when Mt. SAC was playing Pasadena.... Montana's boy got the worst of it while Bruce recorded 2-3 sacks that day.

We use to call him PREDATOR ... in a complimenting way -- but I dont know if he took it in that way --- but he was fast....

Here's a little side note:

After I interviewed him ... I said to him:

ME: Did you really run 4.3 in the JC workouts?
HIM: Yeah man....
ME: Wow...
HIM: We can go right here on this field and you can time me.... you got a stop watch? I'll run a 4.3 right now...
ME: (shocked and amazed at his confidence) Naaa.. you're good I believe you...

Bruce savors big opportunities... he doesn't get nervous nor does he get jitters -- he goes head on at everything... and at Mt. SAC, he proved many a time at why he was a 5-star player that Carroll wanted (during USC).



This Sunday is a special moment for Bruce... He hungers for these moments .... and I'm the first to cheer him on ..... we talk rarely... and rightfully so since he's out doing his thing for all of us....

I give him a hello from time to time on facebook.... and to me he's still a SAC DAWG for life.....

I'm behind Bruce... behind Carroll ... behind the Seahawks... and I cheer with all of you fans.....

This is a special time for all of us... I love Seatown...

Bruce is my boy..... ATL goes down Sunday!!!!!!

 

[bigdaddydave]

LOVE IT! Great right up!

 

[VaporHawk]

Big time players make big time plays

Go Bruuuuuuce!

 

[SundayNiteBlackout]

Too cool.

 

[drdiags]

Thanks for sharing. Welcome aboard and hope you get to share your thoughts on the team. In time you will realize this is really a comedy improv board. We like trying our material on each other before hitting the stage.

Trust me, this true. Just watch these jokers.

 

[Bigpumpkin]

You are a gentleman and a scholar for sharing your time with the .net family. Your insights into his early college days are greatly enjoyed by his fans. Thank you very much!

 

[NYCoug]

Awesome post and awesome name. 2 for 2 so far.

I'm really looking at Bruce as one of the key x-factors in this game for the Hawks. I think he's going to absolutely go off and make the Atlanta line look absolutely silly. I believe that everything happens for a reason or if not, there is at least a solution to a problem. Clem going down is a tough blow to the D but they can withstand it. I'm holding my breath a bit when it comes to how he'll fare against the run but even then, I think he'll be fine. The fact that Scruggs will be on the field more though might balance all of that out.

Thanks for sharing some insight into #51. He seems like a pretty cool dude with an interesting story to tell, likely mostly everyone the roster. Another part of what makes rooting for this team so exciting.

Welcome aboard