Bruce William Miller III (born August 6, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

fullback. Miller played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...

as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

for the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I ( FBS for football) as a member of the ...

, finishing as the school's career leader in sacks with 35.5. He was drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the seventh round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York ...

and played for them until 2016, when he was released following an arrest for felony assault charges. He spent the next four years out of football before playing the 2020 season with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

College career

He played

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University S ...

, redshirting his first year and winning All-Conference honors for four years. In college, he played defensive end. He was named CUSA Defensive Player of the Year in his junior and senior seasons.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Miller scored his first NFL touchdown on a 30-yard pass from quarterback

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 200 ...

on November 6, 2011 in a game against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

. At the end of the 2012 season, Miller and the 49ers appeared in

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. He contributed on offense and special teams as the 49ers fell to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

by a score of 34–31. On March 20, 2014, Miller signed a three-year contract extension with the 49ers. During the 2016 offseason, Miller attempted to switch positions from fullback to

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. On September 5, 2016, he was arrested by the San Francisco Police Department and charged with assault for allegedly attacking two men, a 70-year-old father and his middle aged son, vacationing at the Fisherman's Wharf location of the

Marriott Hotel Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 1 ...

in San Francisco. Miller was immediately released from his contract with the 49ers the same day and was charged with seven felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon. The charges were dropped.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 18, 2020, Miller signed with the

after spending the previous four years out of football. He was released on October 30, 2020, and re-signed to the practice squad on November 2. On the same day, he was suspended by the NFL for six games for violating the league's policy on

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

. He was reinstated from suspension on December 14 and restored to the practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on December 26 for the team's week 16 game against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. His contract with the team expired after the season.

References

External links

UCF Knights bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Bruce 1987 births Living people People from Canton, Georgia People from Woodstock, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football defensive ends American football fullbacks UCF Knights football players San Francisco 49ers players Jacksonville Jaguars players