Bert Faibish
CFL.ca
HAMILTON — Arland Bruce III wants to be the best.
It’s that simple.
Every route he runs in practice and every hour of film he studies is another step in the direction of his goal and now, at age 33, he’s enjoying the most successful season of his career statistically.
“Every time I put cleats on or put on my gloves, it’s because this is my job, this is what I’m lucky enough to get paid to do,” said Bruce.
“I just want to be the best at whatever it is I’m doing, whether it’s blocking, being a decoy or catching balls,” he said.
The shelf life for football players is often around the 30-year mark, after that the body just can’t hold up to the punishment that players endure game in and game out.
It’s a wonder that Bruce has played at a high level for so long and has stayed healthy for most of his career.
“I still get that itch to go return punts and kickoffs but that’s something I haven’t been able to do, which has probably helped preserve my body and add five or six more years to my career,” said Bruce.
After spending much of his career in Toronto, Bruce is in his second season with the Ticats and credits his new role for the success he is enjoying.
Bruce was always a threat to go deep, but in his new offence, he’s asked to run shorter routes over the middle as much as he is to run a fly pattern, which has contributed to the fact that he has the second-highest number of receptions in his career with three games left to play.
“In Toronto there was no hiding it, we wanted to go deep and get me the ball down field,” said Bruce.
“I’m trying to show some of these young guys it’s okay to catch a ball for six yards and get the first down, it’s almost as valuable as catching that 60-yard bomb,” he said.
As the playoffs creep ever closer it’s a familiar foe that awaits Bruce at the end of the line, standing between him and another Grey Cup championship.
“In hockey, it’s the Detroit Red Wings. In basketball, it’s the Lakers,” said Bruce. “When you start the season in the CFL you know that Montreal is the team to beat.”
As an Argonaut, Bruce came up against the Als almost every season in the playoffs and now that he’s in Hamilton, the story seems awfully familiar.
“In Toronto all we talked about was having to go through Montreal to get to the Grey Cup and now to be on another team and hear that, it’s like déjà vu,” said Bruce.
Hamilton has had diffficulty against Montreal recently and knows that they will have to get over that particular hump if they want to be playing in Edmonton come November.
“I think we can get those boys,” admitted Bruce.
“We have a very good team here, we just haven’t put it all together in one game yet,” he said.
If beating Montreal is the plan then there’s no time like the present.
With the Alouettes coming into town this Friday night, the Ticats have an opportunity to extend their winning streak to three and get over the mental hurdle of being able to beat the best team in the East before they hopefully play again but for keeps, November 21, in front of 60,000 screaming fans.
