Big As a Truck, Fast As a Deer
The first time Bruce McLenna walked into Muddy Waters’ office, the coach thought he was looking at a lineman. “I figured anyone that big must be a tackle,” said Waters, the legendary football coach at Hillsdale College.
“I was surprised to find out he was a halfback. Then I saw him run. I was convinced he wasn’t a tackle.” McLenna fooled a lot of people on the football field, from his days as a Fenton High star in the late 1950’s all the way to a brief career in the National Football League in the middle 1960’s.
Opponents couldn’t believe how fast this 6 foot 3, 210-pound back could move. McLenna was the consummate football player, skilled in all the skill positions and tough as iron. He had both tackle-breaking power and breakaway speed. He could catch the ball out of the backfield, throw it on the halfback option and pick it off as a defensive back.
He did all those things in his career at Fenton, carrying the Tigers from a County B League doormat to a winning record his senior year. “He was the whole team,” said Russ Conklin, a former teammate. “He was big, fast and tough to bring down. We didn’t like to scrimmage against him in practice.” McLenna also played basketball and baseball and ran track at Fenton, setting the school record in the low hurdles. But he lived for football.
A 1959 graduate, he was recruited to play at the University of Michigan, but spent a year in prep school first. In that year he led Staunton (Va.) Military Academy with 21 pass receptions, threw frequently from his halfback spot, kicked off and booted extra points.
He lettered at UM in 1961 but was declared scholastically ineligible just prior to the 1962 season. Two years later he showed up at Hillsdale College and became an instant star. Now, up to 228 pounds, he scored 85 points his first year, was named a Little All-American and was drafted by the Detroit Lions as a future prospect. In 1965 he became the first 1,000-yard rusher in Hillsdale history, gaining 1,008 in nine games, and was a repeat pick on the NAIA dream team.
Again, at the professional level, McLenna surprised people. “He doesn’t impress you too much running around in shorts in practice,” said Sammy Baugh, the Lions’ backfield coach in 1966. “But he looks good when they put the helmets on and things get rough. He runs pass patterns well in addition to being a fine runner. I’m pretty well sold on that boy.”
A knee injury in November, 1966 ended his rookie season, and the Lions traded him to New Orleans the following March. The Saints dealt him to Baltimore on Sept. 8, 1967, but the Colts cut him three days later. McLenna had been a member of the Michigan National Guard since 1966, but he received permission to train with the Missouri National Guard in the summer of 1968 because his Michigan unit wouldn’t go to camp until after the Kansas City Chiefs started their training camp.
On June 18, 1968, he was riding in a military vehicle traveling from Fort Leonard Wood to Camp Clark when it went into a ditch off a highway near Urbana, Mo., apparently after a minor collision with a car. Although his only visible injuries were a bruised shoulder and a small scratch on his head, McLenna was dead at the scene. An autopsy revealed a broken neck. He was 26.
McLenna was buried at Crestwood Memorial Cemetery, with Fenton coaches serving as pallbearers. The following spring his name was attached to an athletic award at Fenton, with his father, Bruce McLenna Sr., providing an annual $100 scholarship.
Just before he died, McLenna had been elevated to the No. 2 fullback position on the Chiefs’ roster. One season later, the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV. “It would have been real interesting to see what he could have done,” said Dale Van Avery, another Fenton teammate. “I’ve often thought of that. He had the ability, that’s for sure.”
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