Tedy Bruschi

Tedy Bruschi

Three-time Super Bowl champion Tedy Bruschi joined ESPN as an NFL analyst in August 2009, one week after announcing his retirement from pro football. The former New England Patriots linebacker appears on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio and other platforms, including the local sports site ESPNBoston.com, ESPN’s home for New England sports news and information, which launched in September 2009. In addition, Bruschi contributes to ESPN’s Super Bowl and NFL Draft coverage.

In his first season with ESPN, Bruschi traveled to both Patriots’ Monday Night Football games to share his insiders’ perspective on Monday Night Countdown, including the season-opener at Gillette Stadium. That same night he was recognized on the field at halftime as honorary defensive captain of the Patriots’ 50th Anniversary Team -- a distinction that team owner Robert Kraft bestowed upon him immediately after Bruschi announced his retirement. Patriots coach Bill Belichick also called him “the perfect player.”

Kraft and the Patriots also honored Bruschi in a special ceremony during halftime of the Patriots’ much-anticipated ESPN MNF game against the division rival Jets in December 2010.

Bruschi played in five of the Patriots franchise’s six Super Bowl appearances and in 189 career regular season games (and 22 playoff games) during his 13-year career (1996-2008), all with the Patriots, who selected him in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft.  Captain of the New England defense for seven seasons, Bruschi helped lead the Pats to nine playoffs, eight division championships, five conference titles and three Super Bowl crowns (XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX).  He also helped guide the Patriots to the first undefeated 16-0 regular season record in NFL history in 2007.

A 2004 Pro Bowl selection, Bruschi finished his career with 1,134 tackles, 30.5 sacks and 12 interceptions. He is the only player in NFL history to return four consecutive interceptions for touchdowns.

In addition to his relentless worth ethic and intensity, Bruschi is equally well known for his determination and professionalism off the field. After suffering a stroke in February 2005, he endured months of rehabilitation before being medically cleared to play football and returning to the lineup in October. Bruschi was named the 2005 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and the recipient of both the Ed Block Courage Award and the Maxwell Football Club's Spirit Award. 

Bruschi wrote the memoir Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery, and My Return to the NFL in 2007 about his personal experience. One of the Patriots’ most active players in the greater Boston community, Bruschi remains a spokesman for the American Heart Association and he founded Tedy's Team, a foundation that raises funds for stroke research.

Bruschi was the 2006 recipient of the Senator Paul E. Tsongas Award for Exemplary Public Service and the 2010 Walter Camp Alumni Award for distinguishing himself in the pursuit of excellence as an athlete, in his personal career and in doing good works for others. In May 2011, he will participate in an NFL-sponsored climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with other former players and coaches in support of the Wounded Warrior Project.

A native of San Francisco, Bruschi attended the University of Arizona where he was a two-time consensus All-American (1994 and 1995) and winner of the 1995 Morris Trophy as the PAC-10's best defensive lineman, compiling 185 tackles (137 solos), with 74 tackles for loss, and tying the NCAA Division I-A sack record (52).  He received his degree in Communications in 1996.

Bruschi was inducted into the Rhode Island Italian-American Hall of Fame in 2006. He is also an accomplished saxophonist who has played at the prestigious Boston Symphony Hall as part of a benefit for the Longy School of Music. An avid bowler, he also once bowled a perfect round of 300.

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