Tedy Bruschi

Infobox NFLactive
name=Tedy Bruschi


caption=Tedy Bruschi (right) at the White House.
currentteam=New England Patriots
currentnumber=54
currentpositionplain=Linebacker
birthdate=birth date and age|1973|6|9
birthplace=San Francisco, California
heightft=6
heightin=1
weight=247
debutyear=1996
debutteam=New England Patriots
college=Arizona
draftyear=1996
draftround=3
draftpick=86
pastteams=
* New England Patriots (1996-present)
status=
highlights=
* 1995 Morris Trophy Winner (Defense)
* Pro Bowl selection (2005)
* Co-NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2005)
* 3x Super Bowl champion (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX)
statweek=5
statseason=2008
statlabel1=Tackles
statvalue1=687
statlabel2=Sacks
statvalue2=30.5
statlabel3=INTs
statvalue3=12
nfl=BRU812794

Tedy Lacap Bruschi (pronEng|BREW-ski) (born June 9, 1973 in San Francisco, California) is an American football linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Patriots in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arizona.

A 13-year veteran of the NFL, Bruschi has played his entire career with the Patriots and has won three Super Bowl rings; he has played on five of the six Patriots teams to reach the Super Bowl.

Early years

Bruschi attended Roseville High School in Roseville, California, and was a student and a letterman in football, wrestling, and track & field. In football, he was twice named an All-Conference selection, an All-Metro selection, and an All-Northern California honoree.

College career

He played college football at the University of Arizona as a defensive end, where he tied the NCAA Division I-A sack record with 52 quarterback sacks. He was a member of the debate team, and the aptly named "Desert Swarm" defense with their hard-nosed tactics coached by Defensive Line Coach Rich Ellerson and Defensive Coordinator Larry MacDuff prior to MacDuff's departure to be the special teams coach for the NFL's New York Giants.

Professional career

The Patriots selected Bruschi in the third round (86th overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft, and moved him to linebacker. Bruschi is the first player in NFL history to score touchdowns on four consecutive interceptions, doing so in 2002 and 2003.

On February 16, 2005, just days after playing in the 2005 Pro Bowl, Bruschi was taken to a hospital with symptoms including temporary numbness, blurred vision, and headaches; Bruschi was diagnosed with a mild stroke. He suffered from a patent foramen ovale, a congenital heart defect that leaves a small hole in the wall separating the left and right atria of the heart. Bruschi suffered from partial paralysis and was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital. After several months of rehabilitation working with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, Bruschi announced he would sit out the 2005 NFL season. [ [http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=12160&pcid=41 Bruschi to sit out 2005] Patriots.com. Accessed 25 June 2007.]

On October 16, 2005, the Patriots announced that Bruschi had been medically cleared to resume playing football; he rejoined the team on the practice field three days later. The Patriots officially activated him on October 29, and he played the following night against the Buffalo Bills; ESPN's broadcast of the game had several features and interviews on Bruschi's return. Following the game, Bruschi was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Bruschi played most of the remaining games that season, except for the final regular season game against Miami and the first playoff game against Jacksonville. Bruschi was named the 2005 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, an honor he shared with Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith.

Personal

Bruschi is of Filipino and Italian descent. An accomplished saxophonist, Bruschi has played with the Boston Pops. [ [http://www.projo.com/patriots/content/projo_20050218_18pats.23c4f73.html Pats' Bruschi leaves hospital] The Providence Journal. Accessed 24 July 2007.] Bruschi resides in North Attleboro, Massachusetts with his wife, Heidi, and their three sons, Tedy Jr. ("TJ"), Rex, and Dante.

In 2007 Bruschi wrote "", a book about his experience with his stroke and his recovery. In his memoir, Bruschi speaks with candor about how his family confronted the reality of his life-threatening affliction, of his initial plans to retire from the NFL, and of the moment he told his wife he was ready to return to football, earning him a share of the Comeback Player of the Year Award and the Patriots recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. His book was published by John Wiley & Sons in August 2007.

Bruschi is a spokesman for the American Heart Association and founded Tedy's Team, a foundation to raise funds for stroke research, inspired by Bruschi's own experience.cite news |url = http://www.kepplerspeakers.com/speakers/speakers.asp?1-3QYQJ |title = Tedy Bruschi Speaker Bio |work = Keppler Speakers |accessdate = 2008| language = English ]

Internet Meme

On August 24, 2007, Tedy Bruschi became an internet meme based on an audio clip that originated in November 2005 on AM radio station WGR out of Buffalo, NY. An edited version of this audio clip was used as the basis for a YTMND website entitled "He Has Saved An Entire Litter of Puppies." The website has been viewed over 13,000 times and has been posted on a number of football-related forums.

External links

* [http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=153 New England Patriots Bio Page]
* [http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BRUSCTED01 Current Stats]
*espn nfl|id=3571|name=Tedy Bruschi
* [http://www.nfl.com/players/tedybruschi/profile?id=BRU812794 Tedy Bruschi's NFL Statistics]
* [http://www.runtoendstroke.org Tedy's Team - Raising Awareness. Fighting Stroke.]

References