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In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the St. Louis Rams featured perhaps the most lethal offense the NFL had ever seen up to that point – led by back-to-back MVPs in quarterback Kurt Warner and running back Marshall Faulk, “The Greatest Show on Turf” also featured a pair of outstanding wide receivers in Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. Both were consistent 1,000-yard receivers and equally dangerous in the passing game; in fact, over the course of their respective careers, each receiver accumulated 900+ receptions, 13,000+ receiving yards, and 70+ receiving touchdowns – given their similarly prolific numbers lining up together in the Rams’ offense, it is only natural to ask the question:
Who was better – Isaac Bruce or Torry Holt?
The Beginning
While Bruce had a bit of a roller coaster ride to get to the NFL, Holt was destined for greatness since his high school playing days and added a lethal element to the Rams’ offense as a high first-round draft pick.
Growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Bruce led his high school team to the 1989 Florida State 4-A championship and originally committed to play for Purdue University, but did not qualify academically. As a result, he first attended West Los Angeles College and then Santa Monica College before finally transferring to Memphis – as a senior there in 1993, he became the first wide receiver in school history with a 1,000-yard season. Ultimately, Bruce was able to parlay his nomadic collegiate career into being drafted 33rd overall in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the then-Los Angeles Rams. However, he had a quiet rookie season with 21 receptions for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns; the following season, the team would relocate to St. Louis.
On the other hand, Holt, as a native of North Carolina, was All-State in high school and a Prep Football Report All-American; following a year at Hargrave Military Academy, he would stay local to attend North Carolina State, where as a senior, he was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Offensive Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, an All-American, and a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award for top receiver while setting a then-ACC record for most receptions and a Wolfpack record for touchdown receptions. Drafted sixth overall in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams, he had a strong rookie season with 52 catches for 788 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Career Comparison
During their prime with the Rams, Bruce and Holt were arguably the best one-two receiving punch in the NFL, effectively options 1A and 1B who each consistently put up 1,000-yard and Pro Bowl-caliber seasons; fittingly, they ended their careers as the top two receivers in franchise history.
In the Rams’ first season in St. Louis, Bruce broke out in a big way – in 1995, he amassed 119 catches for 1,781 yards and 13 touchdowns, which at the time, was the second most receiving yards in a season behind only Jerry Rice’s 1,848 yards in that same season; surprisingly, Bruce was neither a Pro Bowler nor All-Pro selection that year. Nevertheless, he followed up in 1996 with another strong season of 84 receptions for a league-best 1,338 yards and 7 touchdowns to earn his first Pro Bowl nod. Plagued by injury and ineffectiveness for the next couple of years, he did not reach 1,000 receiving yards in either of the next two seasons.
With the arrival of Kurt Warner at quarterback in 1999, Bruce would embark on a stretch of three straight Pro Bowl seasons:
- 1999: 77 receptions for 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns; also earned Second Team All-Pro honors
- 2000: 87 receptions for 1,471 yards and 9 touchdowns; together with Holt, became just the second wide receiver duo in NFL history with 1,400+ receiving yards each (also accomplished by Herman Moore and Brett Perriman of the Detroit Lions in 1995)
- 2001: 64 receptions for 1,106 yards and 6 touchdowns; became the third receiver in team history with three straight Pro Bowls, joining Elroy Hirsch and Jim Phillips from the 1950s and 1960s
Following another 1,000 yard season in 2002 (79 catches for 1,075 yards and 7 touchdowns), Bruce dipped below that mark for the first time in half a decade the next season, but bounced back in 2004 with the third-highest receiving output of his career: 89 receptions for 1,292 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Bruce’s final 1,000-yard season would come in 2006 (74 catches for 1,098 yards and 3 touchdowns) and in his final year with the Rams in 2007, he only produced 55 catches for 733 yards and 4 touchdowns. Released by St. Louis, he signed as a free agent with their division rivals the San Francisco 49ers; in his two seasons there, he was solid, but unspectacular, though did achieve his 1,000th career reception in 2008 (ironically vs. the Rams). After the 2009 season, he was traded back to St. Louis to retire as a Ram at age 37, finishing as only the second receiver to reach 15,000 career receiving yards and holding Rams career records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.
Like Bruce, Holt would erupt in his sophomore NFL campaign in 2000 with 82 catches for a league-high 1,635 yards and 6 touchdowns to earn Pro Bowl honors for the first time. This would mark the first of a record six straight seasons with at least 1,300 receiving yards, and eight consecutive years with 80+ receptions and 1,000+ receiving yards. The next year, he was once again a Pro Bowler with 81 receptions for 1,363 yards and 7 touchdowns.
After missing out on the Pro Bowl in 2002, Holt had a career year in 2003, leading the league with 117 catches for 1,696 yards and 12 touchdowns (all career-highs) to earn both Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro selections. From 2004 to 2007, he put together four straight years of at least 90 catches and was a Pro Bowl selection every year, including his second (and last) 100-catch season in 2005 (102 catches for 1,331 yards and 9 touchdowns), and double-digit touchdown seasons in both 2004 (94 receptions for 1,373 yards and 10 touchdowns) and 2006 (93 catches for 1,188 yards and 10 touchdowns). Moreover, in 2006, Holt earned the distinction of fastest player to reach 10,000 career receiving yards in NFL history.
Holt’s last 1,000-yard season came in 2007 on the strength of 93 catches for 1,189 yards and 7 touchdowns; the next season, he was released at season’s end after posting the worst numbers since his rookie season (only 64 receptions for 796 yards and 3 touchdowns). Though he signed as a free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars and had respectable numbers (51 catches for 722 yards), he did not score a touchdown. Subsequently, Holt signed with the New England Patriots, but went on injured reserve and never played a down for the team; in 2012, he signed a ceremonial contract with St. Louis to retire as a Ram, finishing second in franchise history in career receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns behind only Bruce.
While they lined up together in St. Louis for nine seasons, Bruce had a much longer NFL career than Holt, playing five extra seasons and 50 additional games. As a result, it should come as no surprise that he holds the career lead in all receiving categories (receptions, yards, and touchdowns). However, both players had eight 1,000-yard seasons and Holt was more frequently a Pro Bowler (7x vs. 4x) and an All-Pro (once vs. none). Moreover, on a per-game basis, Holt outperformed his longtime teammate, averaging 5.32 receptions for 77.35 yards and 0.43 touchdowns per game over 173 career regular season games vs. 4.59 receptions for 68.20 yards and 0.41 touchdowns per game for Bruce in 223 career regular season games. With both receivers retiring in 2009, they have been part of a glut of great pass-catchers waiting to get into Canton – Bruce was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020, but Holt is still awaiting the call for his gold jacket.
Regular Season Statistics
| Isaac Bruce | Player | Torry Holt |
| 16 (1994-2009) | Seasons | 11 (1999-2009) |
| 223 | Games Played | 173 |
| 1,024 | Receptions | 920 |
| 15,208 | Receiving Yards | 13,382 |
| 91 | Receiving Touchdowns | 74 |
| 4x | Pro Bowls | 7x |
| – | All-Pro | 1x |
| 1x | Super Bowls | 1x |
| – | Other Awards | – |
| 2020 | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
As members of the Rams, Bruce and Holt played together in the Super Bowl twice, coming away with one title. In Super Bowl XXXIV vs. the Steve McNair and Eddie George-led Tennessee Titans, St. Louis eked out a 23-16 victory when on the final play, Rams linebacker Mike Jones made a game-saving tackle on Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson on the one-yard line; both receivers had stellar games, with Bruce catching 6 passes for 162 yards and a 73-yard touchdown and Holt hauling in 7 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Two years later, in Super Bowl XXXVI, the New England Patriots came away victorious 20-17 on a game-winning Adam Vinatieri field goal that would help launch Tom Brady’s career as arguably the greatest quarterback ever; this time, Bruce and Holt were both held in relative check with 5 receptions each for 56 and 49 yards, respectively, and no touchdowns.
Playoff Statistics
| Isaac Bruce | Player | Torry Holt |
| 9 | Games Played | 10 |
| 44 | Receptions | 47 |
| 759 | Receiving Yards | 630 |
| 4 | Receiving Touchdowns | 4 |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; after stellar careers with the Rams, both Bruce and Holt spent their final season(s) in unfamiliar uniforms (49ers and Jaguars). For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams, of which Holt is on for the 2000s as part of the Second Team), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Isaac Bruce | Player | Torry Holt |
| 1995-1997, 1999-2004, 2006 | Decade of Dominance | 1999-2008 |
| 155 | Games Played | 158 |
| 798 | Receptions | 869 |
| 12,122 | Receiving Yards | 12,660 |
| 73 | Receiving Touchdowns | 74 |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
When you normalize their respective careers across decades of dominance, the picture changes a bit – Holt was actually the more dominant player, racking up more receptions, yards, and touchdowns; in fact, during their nine seasons playing together, Holt had more receiving yards than Bruce in all but one season, that being his rookie year.
My Thoughts
When it comes to the greatest receiving duos in NFL history, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt of the St. Louis Rams rank among the best ever, right up there with the likes of Jerry Rice and John Taylor, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, Mark Duper and Mark Clayton, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, etc. Between the two of them, Bruce had the longer career, which allowed him to accumulate better overall numbers, but over the course of a decade, Holt was more consistently great and a more dangerous receiving threat overall, as evidenced by his better 10-year numbers and more honors/accolades, including being selected to the 2000s All-Decade team. With Bruce’s recent selection for the Hall of Fame, I strongly believe that Holt likewise deserves the call – it would be a fitting capstone for “The Greatest Show on Turf” to have all of its primary members (Warner, Faulk, Bruce, and Holt) immortalized in Canton.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Torry Holt
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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