A dozen years ago NFL training camp was a much more fan friendly place for the New England Patriots. You had access to the players as they arrived, when the came off the practice field, and at various other points at Bryant College where camp was held. It was at that small campus where I first ran across a truly great individual. His future doesn’t seem to include a bronze bust in Canton , but his place in Patriots’ history as well as an inspiration for others is secure. Tedy Bruschi was a great football player and his retirement is a great opportunity to share the story of one of the best athletes I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
As a college football fan I was amazed by the stifling defense of the University of Arizona . The “Desert Swarm Defense” was nearly impossible to run against and featured an imposing pass rush. I became an instant fan, staying up late to watch games or even taping them to watch the next day. (This was before Internet streaming videos, DVRs, and YouTube, so if you wanted to see a game you stayed up or taped it on a VCR. Ancient times). That defense was amazing but the focal point was an undersized defensive end named Tedy Bruschi. He was barely recruited out of high school but he became one of the most feared pass rushers in NCAA history. Upon his graduation Bruschi found himself in a situation like that of dozens of college stars, he was a “tweener”. Bruschi was too small to play defensive end in the NFL and too slow to be a linebacker, but he was too talented to pass up. In the third round Bruschi was selected by the New England Patriots with a role that was yet to be determined.
I was standing outside the walkway between the practice field and the locker room as the Patriots came of the field on their first day of training camp. Everyone was yelling at players as they walked by exhausted about twenty feet away. Some players came over and signed autographs but most just walked on by. When I saw Bruschi walked by I yelled out to him as loud as I could. He stopped dead in his tracks and spun ninety degrees to look me square in the eyes. He then walked over to me with a determined look in his eyes and I thought I was a dead man. He asked me how I knew who he was, and my mind went blank. As I stood there in my Arizona hat I suddenly started spitting out stats, plays from his college career, anything my auto pilot brain had retained. He stood there in amazement before finally laughing and stating “You are the first person to actually know who I am. Man, I’m in the NFL.” Every day I was there after that Bruschi would go out of his way to come talk to me. When was the last time a pro athlete would find you in a crowd, know your name, and talk shop with you, a complete stranger?
Tedy Bruschi started out as a special teams star and bounced between defensive end and outside linebacker at the beginning of his career. As his skills and knowledge of the game increased he was moved to inside/middle linebacker (mostly as an injury fill in) but he went on to become a dominant force on five different teams that made it to the Super Bowl. While Bruschi’s accolades are well known, it is the human side of him that made him a fan favorite.
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