Sam Bruce, former St. Thomas Aquinas superstar and Miami wide receiver, dies at 24
Sam Bruce, who briefly played for the Miami Hurricanes after starring at St. Thomas Aquinas, died Thursday at 24.
The cause of Bruce’s death was not immediately clear. The Raiders shared news of his death on the team’s official Facebook page Thursday.
Bruce was a top-100 recruit at St. Thomas Aquinas, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and signed with Miami in the Class of 2016. He never played in a game for the Hurricanes, however, and was dismissed from the team as a freshman for violating team rules.
Bruce then transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, a junior college in Perkinston, Mississippi. He finished his college career at Southeastern University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics program in Lakeland. He also briefly played for the Frisco Fighters of the Indoor Football League.
Although his college and professional careers never took off, Bruce was a star in South Florida because of what he did in high school as a 5-foot-8, 180-pound wideout with blazing speed and electrifying footwork. After starting high school at University, Bruce transferred to St. Thomas Aquinas and won back-to-back state titles in 2014 and 2015, racking up 66 catches for 847 yards and 11 touchdowns in those two seasons. He also ran 29 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
Bruce actually finished high school at Westlake Prep after a photo surfaced online of him holding a gun. In 2021, he told Footballville, a Miami-based football multimedia network, he sometimes fell asleep in meetings and missed the bus for a game during his freshman year. He also injured his leg while serving a three-game suspension at the start of his career, which derailed his progress early.
Bruce’s death led to an outpouring of remembrances and condolences from across the Florida football community, from former coaches and teammates, and even former NFL superstar Chad Johnson, who posted a broken-heart emoji alongside Bruce’s name in a Twitter post.
This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 6:37 PM.
