Let’s rewind back to a Sunday back in early September 1995. From a hotel room in Milwaukee, I watched the St. Louis Rams play their first game under that name, after they had moved to St. Louis in the off-season. In that game, played at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay Wis., the Rams defeated the Green Bay Packers in the season opener. I didn’t see the entire game, but one pair of plays still stays with me to this day.

The two plays were the handiwork of a second-year wide receiver for the Rams whose name I had never heard. First, playing special teams, he blocked and recovered a punt, which gave the Rams excellent field position. On the next play, he caught a touchdown pass. Throughout the course of that season, that same young receiver would continue to play at an elite level, registering one of the highest single-season receiving yards totals in NFL history.

For those of you who don’t know, that young receiver was named Isaac Bruce. He became an elite receiver in St. Louis and for the Rams’ first few years in St. Louis was the team’s only dangerous weapon. He was loved in this city; all of his catches were responded to with a loud “Bruuuuuce.” In the Rams’ Super Bowl championship season in 1999-2000, Bruce scored a touchdown on a long pass over the middle from Kurt Warner on the Rams’ first offensive play in their first playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. A couple of weeks later, in the Super Bowl against the Tennessee Titans, Bruce again caught a long touchdown pass from Warner, this time down the right sideline, with a few minutes remaining, to provide the winning margin in the Rams’ 23-16 win.

As younger receiver Torry Holt became one of the NFL’s top receivers for the Rams, he and Bruce made up one of the best, if not the best, receiving tandems in the NFL. Even though he had essentially lost his spot as the Rams’ top receiver to Holt, Bruce still put up excellent numbers and always conducted himself at an even higher level.

Well, the Isaac Bruce era in St. Louis might have come to an end. After Bruce and the team couldn’t come to an agreement to restructure the receiver’s contract, the Rams cut Bruce.

While the Rams still hope to come to an agreement with Bruce on a new contract, which would prolong his tenure with the team, Bruce can now sign with any other team in the NFL. If he signs elsewhere, there will no longer be any of the original St. Louis Rams on the team, as Bruce was the last of the Rams players that made the move from Los Angeles to St. Louis.

While this is an unfortunate circumstance, things like this happen every year in the NFL, because of the salary cap. Every year, good players with large salaries are cut to free up room under the salary cap. Sometimes the players that get cut are players that have put in significant time with one team, just like Bruce has with the Rams. It’s not one of the better things about the NFL, but, like people frequently say, sports are a business.

For the most part, I don’t think these situations are easy for anyone. The fans have to see one of their favorite players get cut, a player has to leave a team they have spent considerable time playing for, and the coaches and front office have to watch a solid player leave their organization. Like I said, I don’t think anybody likes this, but it’s the harsh reality of sports being a business.

While the Rams’ release of quarterback Kurt Warner a couple of years ago was in some way business-related, it was also motivated by a sharp decrease in Warner’s play. Bruce, on the other hand, is still playing at a relatively high level and would still be a valuable second or third receiver for the Rams. The problem is that he was due a salary of around $10 million for next season, and that’s a pretty steep number for a second or third receiver. The Rams hoped that Bruce would agree to a new, smaller contract that would give the team more salary cap room. Cutting Bruce wiped his entire contract off the Rams’ books.

There still remains the possibility that both sides could come to an agreement. The Rams’ front office hopes to re-sign Bruce, though, which is something this Rams fan would like to see.

I always thought that the NFL’s salary cap system was the best financial system in professional sports, and while it may still be, right now I’m thinking otherwise-because one of my favorite players was a salary cap casualty.