Bruce Bannon

Bruce Patrick Bannon (born March 11, 1951) is an American former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the early 1970s. He played college football for Penn State University, and earned consensus All-American honors. The New York Jets selected him in the fifth round of the 1973 NFL Draft, and he played for the NFL's Miami Dolphins in 1973 and 1974.

Bannon was born in Rockaway, New Jersey. He started playing football at 8 years old in the Morris County Midget Football League for the Rockaway Township Rockets as a quarterback. He played high school football at Morris Hills High School in Rockaway.

Bannon attended Pennsylvania State University, where he played for coach Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 1969 to 1972. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, and the defensive Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 1972 Cotton Bowl Classic. He graduated in 1973 with a bachelor of science degree in geology.

He resides in Pennsylvania. Reports of his death in early 2008 were erroneous, arising from the death of an individual with the same name.