SANTA CLARA – Longing? Nostalgia? Homesickness? Isaac Bruce doesn't have time for any of that touchy-feely, Hallmark-card mumbo jumbo.
"I don't live my life emotionally. I live a principle-led life," the 49ers wide receiver coolly informed reporters when asked what it would be like today to face the Rams, the team with which he spent 14 seasons.
Bruce, in fact, was amused by the line of questioning. When asked how playing against former teammates might affect him, he didn't seem to understand.
"Affect me? … "
Personally. That you weren't able to finish your career with the only NFL team you knew?
"Not at all," he said with a laugh. "Not at all."
Back in St. Louis, a tad more warmth was extended in Bruce's direction.
Said interim head coach Jim Haslett: "I love the guy. The guy is first of all one of the best pros I've ever been around from a work ethic standpoint. The guy is a great individual."
"I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for Isaac," said wide receiver Torry Holt. "Playing with him for nine years, I was able to learn a lot from Isaac, not only on the football field, but by the way he carried himself as a professional."
Holt and the Rams have plenty of reason to miss Bruce.
St. Louis' passing game, which was dynamic when Bruce and Holt were the starting wide receivers, has sputtered this season as the Rams have broken in three youngsters at the position.
Playing opposite Bruce last season, Holt had 54 catches for 700 yards and four touchdowns through nine games. At the same point this season, Holt has 33 catches, 352 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Marc Bulger has struggled so much that he was briefly benched earlier this season. Back in the starting lineup, the same quarterback who threw 24 touchdown passes two years ago has just six this season. The Rams' offense ranks 31st in the league.
"When you work with two wide receivers for years and years and years, you get into a rhythm with them," Bulger told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Bruce's stats, meanwhile, also are down compared with last year, although he leads all 49ers receivers with 411 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
But he's not about to admit he misses his old team, which in February suddenly and unceremoniously announced in a news release it had released the four-time Pro Bowl player.
"I know business is business," he said. "Sometimes business falls on the people who you don't want it to fall on. And it fell on Isaac Bruce. I wasn't surprised. Sometimes I say they beat me to the draw."
What does he mean by that? "It's what I said," Bruce said. "It's pretty self-explanatory."
Read Matthew Barrows' 49ers blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.
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