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Honors & Awards
Nebraska Football Hall of Fame (Inducted, 2022)
First-Team All-Big Eight (AP, Coaches, 1989, 1990)
Big Eight Defensive Newcomer of the Year (Coaches, 1988)
Big Eight Defensive Player of the Week (Oklahoma State, 1989)
East-West Shrine Game Participant
First-Round NFL Draft Pick (Atlanta Falcons, 1991)
Four-Year NFL Career (Atlanta, 1991-93; Green Bay, 1993; Kansas City, 1993; Oakland, 1995)
1990 (Senior)
Bruce Pickens earned first-team All-Big Eight honors for the second straight season as a senior left corner for the Huskers in 1990. He finished the regular season with 40 total tackles, including 18 solos. He registered one sack for eight yards lost. He caused one fumble while adding one interception and five pass breakups on the year. Pickens helped lead a Nebraska defense that ranked seventh nationally in scoring (13.4 ppg) and total defense (263.5 ypg). He added three tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception to go along with a pass breakup in the 1991 Florida Citrus Bowl.
He finished his three-year career as a Husker with 84 total tackles, including 48 unassisted stops. He recorded five TFLs (45 yards), including four sacks (44 yards). Pickens had four career interceptions, two fumbles caused, one recovery and 13 PBUs. He played in 34 games with 23 career games and had two more starts in Husker bowl games following his junior and senior seasons.
Following his senior season, Pickens played in the East-West Shrine College All-Star Game. He was selected with the third overall pick in the 1991 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. He played three seasons in Atlanta (1991-93) before making a brief stop in Green Bay (1993) and joining the Kansas City Chiefs for the end of the 1993 season. He did not play in 1994. He played the final 16 games of his career with the Oakland Raiders in 1995. Pickens played 48 career NFL games with nine starts. He had two interceptions and a fumble recovery in his pro career.
1989 (Junior)
A first-team All-Big Eight choice at left corner as a junior starter for the Blackshirts, Pickens started every game and made explosive plays for the Big Red throughout the season. He finished the year with 30 total tackles, including 21 solos, while recording a pair of sacks for 29 yards lost against Oklahoma State. He also caused and recovered a fumble against the Cowboys while adding two pass breakups to earn Big Eight Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors. He intercepted two passes (Oregon State, Kansas). He finished the regular season with seven pass breakups. Pickens also notched seven unassisted tackles and three breakups in the 1990 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl against Florida State. As a team, the Huskers ranked eighth nationally in total defense (274.1 ypg).
1988 (Sophomore)
The Big Eight Defensive Newcomer of the Year according to the conference coaches in his first season in the Nebraska secondary, Pickens finished with 14 tackles, including nine solos. He had two tackles for eight yards lost, including one sack for seven yards. He pulled down his first career interception and added a pass breakup while playing in 12 regular-season games behind Lorenzo Hicks at right corner for the Big Red. Pickens helped Nebraska to a Big Eight championship with an unbeaten conference season that included a 7-0 win over Colorado and a 7-3 victory over Oklahoma. He also made his first career start late in the season in a win over Kansas State. The Blackshirts ranked sixth nationally in pass defense (134.8 ypg) and seventh in total defense (262.8 ypg). He did not see action against Miami in the 1989 Orange Bowl.
1987 (Coffeyville Junior College)
A second-team all-conference selection in his only season at Coffeyville Junior College in Kansas, Pickens totaled 48 tackles, including 26 solos, while hauling in five interceptions. He returned the picks for 129 yards, including one touchdown. Three of his interceptions came in Coffeyville’s 49-14 win over the Husker freshman team at Coffeyville. He also had 11 pass breakups.
Westport High School
Pickens graduated from Westport High School in Kansas City before enrolling at Coffeyville JC.
Personal
The son of Clarence and Beatrice Whitely, Pickens was born in Kansas City, Mo. He majored in consumer science at Nebraska.