About four decades after its discontinuation, UTA is reflecting on football – a chapter from the past that shaped its history – through the achievements earned by one of the university’s most distinguished players.
Former UTA offensive lineman Bruce Collie will make history as the first Maverick inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame later this year, joining 21 inductees recognized by the National Football Foundation. Only 0.2% of players out of the millions in collegiate play are nominated.
On Wednesday, the foundation announced that 18 players and four coaches will be inducted into the prestigious lineup during the 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the Bellagio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
“The fact that they don’t have football and the fact that he’s being inducted, that speaks to the quality of the player that he is,” said Matthew Sign, National Football Foundation chief operating officer.
“When you stand out like that offensive tackle, and the school took the time to nominate him, so obviously thought a lot about Bruce as a player,” Sign said. “He was more than worthy. He was a great offensive lineman, and so he deserved consideration, and he deserved to be elected.”
The National Football Foundation, founded in 1947, has several requirements for players to become potential nominees, including: having received First-Team All-American recognition by an NCAA-recognized All-American team, being 10 years clear of their college tenure and not currently being a professional. Players must also be nominated by their respective university for the selection.
Once nominated, a player’s name goes on a divisional ballot that is sent to the public, with a “final say” being elected through an honors court. These nominees can rack up, with a yearly estimate of about 1500 eligible candidates, Sign said.
“It’s just really cool to remind ourselves that we played football at a high level,” Athletics director Jon Fagg said. “All of that kind of success connects us back, gives us a source of pride, which is exactly what athletics should do, so I’m super excited.”
Collie attended and played football at Robert E. Lee High School, now named Legacy of Educational Excellence High School, until 1980 before attending UTA as a student and member of the football team. He graduated in 1984, one year before the Maverick football program played its final season. While a member of the football team, he and the program won a Southland Conference championship while boasting a 10-2 record in 1981.
In his senior year as a Maverick, the lineman earned First Team All-America honors, despite returning from an injury during the 1984 season, according to a UTA press release. Collie also earned Honorable Mention All-America recognition during his sophomore and junior years.
Following his college career, he received an invitation to the Blue-Gray All-Star Game and was selected in the fifth round of the 1985 National Football League draft by the San Francisco 49ers, where he won two Super Bowls in 1989 and 1990. Collie ended his professional football career with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1991.
Collie was also inducted into the UTA’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 2002 and the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
While with the Philadelphia Eagles, Collie met his wife, Holly, whom he married six weeks later. Together, the two lived on a ranch in Wimberly, Texas, for 14 years and raised 13 children.
Collie focused on family, faith and business once football faded out. He and his family opened the Wimberly Brewing Company in 2008, which took off quickly, according to the Wimberly Brewing Company website.
“Bottom line to this, Bruce Collie is a great player,” Sign said. “He very much deserves to be in the College Football Hall of Fame as one of the greats that ever played.”
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