Bob Brudzinski
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Position: | Linebacker | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Fremont, Ohio, U.S. | January 1, 1955||||||
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Fremont Ross (Fremont) | ||||||
College: | Ohio State | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1977 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Robert Louis Brudzinski (born January 1, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Miami Dolphins. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, earning consensus All-American honors in 1976.
Ohio State
Brudzinski was a four-time letter winner and a three-year starter at defensive end for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was a two-time All-Big Ten Conference selection and as a senior in 1976, he was a consensus All-America choice. In his 43 games for Ohio State he totaled 214 tackles and in 1976 he intercepted four passes, a high number for a defensive end. In 2000 Brudzinski was voted to the Ohio State Football All-Century Team.
Los Angeles Rams
The
In 1979 Brudzinski had his best year to date. Making all 16 starts as the RLB and being named 2nd-team All-pro by the Gannett Wire Service. "Bru" as his teammates called him, amassed 127 tackles, with 7 of those for a loss, plus 5 sacks, he intercepted a pass, forced a fumble, recovered one and broke up 14 passes, either at the line of scrimmage or in coverage. The Rams went through the NFC playoffs beating the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before losing Super Bowl XIV to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Two-thirds into the 1980 season Brudzinski walked out and never returned to the Rams. To date, he had made 35 tackles and had 6 passes defensed plus a sack, but felt he was underpaid. He was replaced by George Andrews.
The Rams were forced to trade Brudzinski and did so in the spring of 1981. The Rams received multiple picks and the top pick was used to draft future star linebacker Jim Collins. With the Rams Brudzinski totaled 242 tackles, 9 sacks, and over 20 passes broken up in his 55 games (41 starts) with the Rams.[1]
Miami Dolphins
Brudzinski played 125 games with 94 starts for Don Shula's Dolphins from 1981 though 1989, recording 141⁄2 sacks to bring his career total to 231⁄2 to go with his nine interceptions.[2]
Brudzinski adapted quickly to the
While with Miami, Brudzinski was voted to the All-Time Dolphins team in the early 2000s.[3] He was mentioned in articles that ask "Who is the best linebacker never to play in a Pro Bowl?" and Brudzinski's name often comes up since he played well for a long period of time and was never honored by a Pro Bowl selection, even after his stellar 1979 season.
Bru's Room
Founder and owner of Bru's Room Sports Grill.
References
- ^ 1981 Los Angeles Rams Media Guide
- ^ Pro Football Reference.com
- ^ ""Experts All-Time Team"". Archived from the original on 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2013-09-27. Miami Sun-Sentinel