Mkristo Eugene Bruce (born October 16, 1984) 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 with ...

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2007. He 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 ...

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Bruce has also been a member of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

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 play ...

, and

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

Early years

Bruce graduated from

Liberty Senior High School Liberty High School is a secondary school located in the East Renton Highlands in King County, Washington, United States. Founded in 1977, Liberty anchors the southern region of the Issaquah School District in the areas of Mirrormont, Issaquah, ...

in 2002 where he earned eight letters competing in basketball and track, along with football. As a junior, he started at quarterback and linebacker, where he was named honorable mention All-Kingco, His senior year, he was named a

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

Red Chip prospect as the team finished 4-5 overall and 4-5 in the Kingco Conference. He was a First-team All-league pick as a linebacker and the second-team quarterback after passed for 718 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 602 yards and six touchdowns.

College career

Bruce was a four-year letterman at Washington State and played in 47 career contests, including34 starts, all coming over his final three seasons. He totaled 203 tackles, 45.5 stops for loss, 29.5 sacks and an interception. As a senior, he had 11 sacks and 16 tackles for losses to go with his 57 tackles and First-team All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

selection. In 2005, as a junior, he played in and started 11 games finished the season 67 tackles and 15 TFL, 10 sacks and two fumbles recovered and three forced fumbles for which he was named Second-team Pacific-10 Conference second-team and ESPN.com First-team All-Pac-10 first-team. He started all 11 games in 2004 and recorded 60 tackles (12.5 for losses) and 6.5 sacks). In 2003, he played in 13 games with no starts and made 9 tackles (2 for losses) and 2 sacks. In 2002, he redshirted.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Bruce measured a height of and a weight of at his Pro Day. He ran the dash in 4.98 seconds and 4.89 seconds, the short shuttle in 4.52 seconds and the 3-cone drill in 7.47 seconds. He measured a vertical jump and an broad jump.

Miami Dolphins

After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft, Bruce was signed by the

as an

. He was waived on September 1 during final cuts.

Oakland Raiders

Bruce was signed to the

practice squad on October 10, 2007.

Arizona Rattlers

Bruce played for the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

in 2008, recording eight tackles (three solo) and a pass breakup.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On June 25, 2008 Bruce signed with the

because the Jaguars had not yet signed

Derrick Harvey Derrick Harvey (born November 9, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Florida, and was a member of a BCS National Championship team. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in ...

. During a pre-season game against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, Mkristo, had 3 sacks. He was promoted to the active roster on December 4 after

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Rashean Mathis Rashean Jamil Mathis (; born August 27, 1980) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Bethune–Cookman University, and was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second r ...

was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. He was later released on June 17, 2009.

Florida Tuskers

Bruce was signed by the

of the United Football League on August 25, 2009. He was released before the season began.

Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz

Bruce returned to the AFL in 2010 when he signed with the

Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz were an arena football team. The team began play as a 2004 expansion team of the Arena Football League's minor league af2 before becoming a member of the AFL in 2010. Formerly a tenant of the Ford Center from 2004 u ...

. Bruce recording 8 tackles, 1.5 sacks and forced a fumble.

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Mkristo 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Seattle American football defensive ends Washington State Cougars football players Miami Dolphins players Oakland Raiders players Arizona Rattlers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Florida Tuskers players Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz players