Bruschi, Santos Honored In Foxboro

Email to a friend Permalink

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalWorcester Sports Editors

Not many knew what to expect of an undersized defensive end out of Arizona after he was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft. After a brilliant 13-year career which included 3 Super Bowl titles, Tedy Bruschi has now taken his rightful spot in the Hall at Patriot Place.

Tedy Bruschi celebrates his third Super Bowl title with the Patriots

Bruschi was enshrined on Monday along with long-time radio voice Gil Santos. It was the largest crowd for any such ceremony in Foxboro which is not a surprise given Bruschi's popularity as a player.

Saying that such individual honors aren't really important to him, Bruschi focused more on what he was all about as a player - TEAM.

“When we won (championship) hats and T-shirts, there was one in everybody’s locker," he said. "Every teammate got a hat and every teammate got a T-shirt that said they did something, they accomplished something. I’m the only player up here getting a (Hall of Fame) jacket and I feel conflicted. So I will eagerly await many of my teammates joining me up here, wearing this red jacket.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick took time away from his busy schedule to show up at Bruschi's induction ceremony to say a few words about the former inside linebacker. “Tedy Bruschi is such a champion in every sense of the word," he said. "He’s the epitome of a football player and it’s such an honor and a privilege to have coached Tedy Bruschi. Thank you, Tedy."

"There are great players and there are great players. Tedy Bruschi was a great, great football player because of his passion, his love and his team attitude toward the game; they were all second to none.”

Former teammates Ty Law and Troy Brown were among those on hand for Bruschi's induction.

After the ceremony and before the team's evening practice inside Gillette Stadium, Bruschi also took time to give an impassioned speech to this year's team. The practice was for season ticket holders only and for Foxboro residents. A reported crowd of 20,543 showed up for the session.

Santos called his induction "the high point" of his 50-year broadcasting career. He said that Super Bowl XXXVI was his favorite Patriots moment and took a page from Lou Gehrig's book by calling himself "a very lucky man."