Bobby Bruce was one of the most notable figures to come out of Last Chance U, but he ran into legal trouble after enrolling at Independence Community College. The talented linebacker joined the Indy Pirates football team for the 2017 season. Indy’s junior college (JUCO) football program served as the setting for seasons 3 and 4 of the Netflix docuseries. Bruce was talented but had issues with his confidence and discipline. While many young student-athletes dreamed of Division I scholarships or a chance to make it in the NFL, Bruce couldn’t seem to get out of his own way. Bruce was a minor, yet compelling, player featured in Last Chance U season 3 and his coaches worried about him, which was warranted. Last Chance U season 3’s end credits revealed that Bruce was arrested in June 2018 for a robbery that took place a month prior.
Last Chance U season 3 indicated that Bruce wasn’t expected to return to Indy. Despite the legal troubles during the summer break, the charges were dropped, and Bruce returned to play for the team during the 2018 season, which was documented through Last Chance U season 4. Bruce was cut from the Indy Pirates during the season after being caught on security footage entering a student’s dorm and stealing money. With too many marks on his record, Bruce had to be sent home, ending his college career. Sadly, this was not the end of Bruce’s erratic behavior.
Bobby Bruce Experienced More Trouble After Leaving Indy
After his time at Indy came to an end, Last Chance U‘s Bobby Bruce didn’t immediately give up football. The linebacker signed with the Manatee Neptunes out of the A-League in his home state of Florida. The arena team hasn’t been active since June 2019, so it seems as though Bruce’s time playing football has since come to an end, at least for now. When season 4 ended, Bruce was looking forward to being a father, and his son was born after the series ended. Like his Last Chance U coach Jason Brown, however, Bruce continued to get in trouble once the cameras stopped rolling.
In February 2020, Bruce was arrested in Florida for possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia. In March 2022, he was arrested again for felony fleeing and eluding a police officer, and was later charged with burglary, grand theft larceny, and violating parole. The former Last Chance U star can’t seem to keep his life on the straight and narrow. Hopefully, he will manage to make some changes, considering he still has a full life ahead of him.
Bobby Bruce’s Troubles Don’t Exist In A Bubble
While Bobby Bruce of Last Chance U is responsible for his own actions, it’s worth considering his apparent downward spiral in relation to the ongoing conversation about mental health and reality TV. Reality shows can elevate everyday people to fame overnight, but the resulting attention, including plenty of criticism and negative comments (sometimes encouraged by reality shows’ editing) can be tough to deal with.
At its most drastic, this includes cases such as the suicides of Love Island contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis and Terrace House cast member Hana Kimura. It’s hard to attribute Bobby Bruce’s behavior entirely to his time on Last Chance U, especially as his first run-in with the law happened before the season aired, but having his lowest moments become nationally known probably didn’t help.
Bobby Bruce could also be seen as a product of youth sports and its surrounding issues, which have been depicted in documentaries such as Hoop Dreams as well as dramas like Friday Night Lights. Similar to reality TV, sports often put people under widespread scrutiny at a young age. Last Chance U shows throughout its five seasons how the athletes it chronicles have not been given the intellectual and emotional skills to deal with adulthood.
It’s often thanks to a monolithic focus on athletic achievement, whether it be struggling with basic classwork or lacking the maturity to stay out of trouble. This leaves the players who don’t make the pros unequipped for life after football. Where Bobby Bruce is now represents a fairly extreme example of these issues, but it highlights how reality TV and youth athletics often fail to emotionally support the people involved.
There’s No More Last Chance U Coming, But Expect Spinoffs
Last Chance U season 5 was the original series’ last, but it didn’t mark the end of the franchise. Netflix’s Last Chance U originally followed community college football programs, but it has since shifted to cover a new sport with Last Chance U: Basketball. Season 1 of the new series follows the East Los Angeles Community College men’s basketball team, the Huskies, as the program and the players strive for the best during the 2019-2020 season. Of course, the season wound up getting cut short thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Last Chance U: Basketball season 2 returned to ELAC in December 2022.
It’s currently unknown whether Netflix will produce new seasons of Last Chance U involving football, basketball, or other sports. Likewise, a scripted series based on athletic academic counselor Brittany Wagner from Last Chance U is in development at Spectrum, with Courteney Cox set to play the lead role. The wait for this series will likely be longer given the production delays brought on by the pandemic. Nonetheless, it should be an interesting continuation of the story Last Chance U built.
