WEBVTT - Pats from the Past, Episode 7: Tedy Bruschi, Part 2

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to the Pats from the Past podcast Matt

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<v Speaker 1>Smith alongside with Brian Moorriy, it's time for part two

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<v Speaker 1>of our conversation with Patriots Hall of Fame linebacker Teddy Bruski. So,

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<v Speaker 1>does two thousand and one feel better than two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and seven?

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<v Speaker 2>Hurts? Does it? Does?

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<v Speaker 1>That's great?

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<v Speaker 2>You know what, Matt, that's a great question, because then

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<v Speaker 2>that hurts that two thousand and seven season. But that

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<v Speaker 2>feeling of joy and accomplishment for two thousand and one

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<v Speaker 2>is just off the charts that it can't compare to it.

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<v Speaker 2>But I still remember the one that got away, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>And I remember being in captains meetings here and it

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<v Speaker 2>was me and Brady and Say and a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>the captains were in there talking about, you know, don't

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<v Speaker 2>take us out. Don't take us out, because we're not

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<v Speaker 2>just trying to win the Super Bowl. We're trying to

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<v Speaker 2>win the Super Bowl, the one that would trump them all.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, this is week week fifteen, Week sixteen, week seventeen.

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<v Speaker 2>You know what we're trying to accomplish. And it was

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<v Speaker 2>never said that we're trying to go undefeated. But we

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<v Speaker 2>all look around thinking, we know what we want to do, guys,

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<v Speaker 2>and making sure Bill knew what we want to do too.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm just proud of that team for trying to

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<v Speaker 2>do something that had never been done before. And that's

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<v Speaker 2>why I'm so proud of that team. And then you

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<v Speaker 2>see a couple of years later when the Colts turned

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<v Speaker 2>it down when they're fourteen, you zero, and they're pulling

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<v Speaker 2>all these starters out when they're playing the Jets, and

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<v Speaker 2>I'm in my kitchen going, I can't believe what I'm seeing.

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<v Speaker 2>How can you turn it down? How can you turn

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<v Speaker 2>it down and not try to do that?

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<v Speaker 1>That's the respect, Teddy, as you're talking about. Don't take

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<v Speaker 1>us out of the game. We got something here. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a Karen in front of a heck of a lot

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<v Speaker 1>bigger than a Karen. We got something here to try

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<v Speaker 1>to shoot for, and we're going to shoot for it.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's why I respect every one of those players

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<v Speaker 2>on that seven team. And I know Moss was there

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<v Speaker 2>and Wilker was there, and a lot of those guys

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<v Speaker 2>and me and Randy talk about it off and that's

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<v Speaker 2>I mean for Junior. We wanted to get it for

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<v Speaker 2>Junior too. You know, there was so many multiple special

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<v Speaker 2>layers that was that was going on that year. But

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<v Speaker 2>you know that's but I would say the O one

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<v Speaker 2>joy still still can overwhelm that feeling of loss.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you remember where you were watching the game winning

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<v Speaker 3>kick watching the.

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<v Speaker 2>Game in two thousand and one, Yeah, yeah, I mean

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<v Speaker 2>which one? I mean? I mean I remember the one

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<v Speaker 2>I was in the snow. I remember the one, you

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<v Speaker 2>know for Adam Vini, Terry and Larry Ezo jumping on

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<v Speaker 2>my back and me just calling out, Mama, we did it, mama,

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<v Speaker 2>you know to my mom in the in the in

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<v Speaker 2>the stands, who was over there with my wife and everyone.

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, I remember going through and I thought to myself,

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<v Speaker 2>seven seconds is a long time. I wonder if there'll

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<v Speaker 2>be one second left. But they just ran it all off,

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<v Speaker 2>and yeah, they changed the role.

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<v Speaker 1>Teddy, where did the origin, if you will, of how

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<v Speaker 1>do we feel? When did that?

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<v Speaker 2>Like?

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<v Speaker 1>When did you decide or who decided? And how did

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<v Speaker 1>that come about? As you were talking about your leadership

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<v Speaker 1>maybe developing throughout your career.

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<v Speaker 2>I think Guy in the training camp year of two thousand,

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<v Speaker 2>I think that was two thousand and three, two thousand

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<v Speaker 2>and three, we played the Eagles the first game another Bills,

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<v Speaker 2>the Bills, the Bills, the Bill. That was our three

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<v Speaker 2>that was a three season, right, yeah, okay, yeah yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And in the stretch line in training camp, I would

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<v Speaker 2>just we'd all be hooping and hollering and I'd break

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<v Speaker 2>out and oh yeah that was nice or something like that.

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<v Speaker 2>And Antoine smith liked that. Antoine smith are running back

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<v Speaker 2>back then, big back, I used to call him. And

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<v Speaker 2>then we of course get beat by the Bills thirty

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<v Speaker 2>one to zero. And then we come back and we

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<v Speaker 2>beat the beat the Philadelphia Eagles the next night and

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<v Speaker 2>the next week, and then we're in the locker room

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<v Speaker 2>and and Antoine Smithy says, hey, bru brew brew do that?

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<v Speaker 2>Do that? Yeah yeah, let's do the oh yeah thing.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm like, what, let's do? All yeah. So immediately I'm thinking, man,

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<v Speaker 2>how can I get these guys to say oh yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>And then I'm like, well, it's got to be a

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<v Speaker 2>response to a question or something, and I'm like, all right.

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<v Speaker 2>The first time, I think, all right, how do we

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<v Speaker 2>feel about a victory? And then everybody just said oh yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And then so that was sort of the start of it,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, just sort of an organic expression that we

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<v Speaker 2>did in the locker room. Then from there the questions

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<v Speaker 2>just became more elaborate in terms of wind streaks and

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<v Speaker 2>winning and back then San Diego and turning out the

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<v Speaker 2>lights on the San Diego Superchargers, you know, and making

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<v Speaker 2>an NFL history, and how do we feel about Bill

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<v Speaker 2>Belichick as our coach when he was going through a

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<v Speaker 2>tough time and and all of that stuff, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>at all it took a lot of creativity because there

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<v Speaker 2>were times I was on the sideline thinking to myself, Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>how am I going to break it down? Fourth quarter,

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<v Speaker 2>five minutes left. I know we're only up by seven,

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<v Speaker 2>but I'm going to break it down.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what does Once in a while, he learned preparation

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<v Speaker 1>under coach Belichick.

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<v Speaker 2>Once in a while. I'll text later too during the

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<v Speaker 2>game and I'll be like, hey, text, I mean he's late.

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<v Speaker 2>Today was the old man's three hundredth Make sure you

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<v Speaker 2>get that in. I know, slates all over it. I just,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, just but I know he does a great

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<v Speaker 2>job with it. He's got his own a worthy success,

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<v Speaker 2>a worthy success. Absolutely, yeah, absolutely yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Does it surprise you that, seventeen years later, if you're

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<v Speaker 1>telling us it started in O three, that there are

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<v Speaker 1>fans Teddy that remember it and remember you as the

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<v Speaker 1>innovator and the originator of that, and there are fans

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<v Speaker 1>that post things social media wise about it, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>it has endured and really gotten even bigger and better

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<v Speaker 1>in over seventeen years. Does that surprised you? Oh?

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<v Speaker 2>It has? It has? I mean, I mean it's just

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<v Speaker 2>the expression, I guess, just just just an expression of

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<v Speaker 2>joy really, And you know, I think over the course

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<v Speaker 2>of social media, I think everyone just when it's good,

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<v Speaker 2>it's it's it's it's more receptive, you know, and just

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<v Speaker 2>to express yourself after something good has happened. And you

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<v Speaker 2>and you won. The guys like it too, because you

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<v Speaker 2>only play one game every week, you know, and if

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<v Speaker 2>you get that win, just to be able to let

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<v Speaker 2>it out like that, it's almost like there it is,

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<v Speaker 2>do the ah, yeah, and then now it can calm down. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I enjoy it.

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<v Speaker 1>You're the you're a member of the last team to

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<v Speaker 1>ever went back to back championships. You win in Jacksonville,

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<v Speaker 1>I think you know, people remember you pregame with your

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<v Speaker 1>sons on the field, and what a great moment that was,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you got elected to Was that your first

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<v Speaker 1>Pro Bowl?

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<v Speaker 2>That was my first Pro Bowl? Yeah? What did that?

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<v Speaker 2>You know?

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<v Speaker 1>You talk about your evolution as a player, and she's, well,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know what a hook is. You know, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know what this is. Yeah, and I know around

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<v Speaker 1>here pro bowls don't mean anything, you know, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>about championships here. What did that mean to you to

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<v Speaker 1>finally receive that recognition, Teddy?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? It was. It was incredibly hard to make because

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, ray Lewis was a linebacker and Zach Thomas

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<v Speaker 2>was a linebacker, and they're incredibly good AFC linebackers, so

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<v Speaker 2>many of them were there, and so for me to

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<v Speaker 2>finally get there was an incredible sense of, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the individual accomplishment. I guess something and I never was

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<v Speaker 2>you know too, you know, to focus to get but

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<v Speaker 2>still to get the nod a little bit. It was.

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<v Speaker 2>It was fulfilling. I remember when Bill announced it in

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<v Speaker 2>the team meeting and everybody just exploded because I remember

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<v Speaker 2>coming in after making the interception versus the Dolphins in

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<v Speaker 2>the snow and Hewart telling me he's like, hey, Damon, Hewart,

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<v Speaker 2>our backup quarterback. If you don't make the Pro Bowl

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<v Speaker 2>this year. Something's wrong, and I was like, whoa, this

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<v Speaker 2>is actually possible, you know. I mean, the only thing

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<v Speaker 2>I had ever thought about through the course of my

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<v Speaker 2>NFL career was learning a play linebacker and then being

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<v Speaker 2>an every down starter, staying healthy for all sixteen helping

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<v Speaker 2>us win a championship. So that was my process. So

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<v Speaker 2>this was an accomplishment for me. I didn't consider it

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<v Speaker 2>a huge accomplishment, but it was nice to say that

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<v Speaker 2>you've done it.

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<v Speaker 4>And before we get to what happened after that, it

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<v Speaker 4>was actually O two and I remember you telling this

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<v Speaker 4>story Thanksgiving.

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<v Speaker 2>O two.

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<v Speaker 4>You guys have a blitz called in Detroit where both

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<v Speaker 4>linebackers are going to come, which have a way the

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<v Speaker 4>protection slides that linebacker pulls out.

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<v Speaker 2>That was the origination Boo the Boogeyman thing.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, you pull out Red Joey Harrington make the interception

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<v Speaker 4>pick six. And you've described that play as that was

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<v Speaker 4>kind of the day you knew you had it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was why I made it play really because

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<v Speaker 2>that involved everything that I was trying to learn over

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<v Speaker 2>the course of all those years learning to play linebacker,

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<v Speaker 2>from putting my hand down to being up. Now I thought, okay,

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<v Speaker 2>I got it, because firstly it was for you call

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<v Speaker 2>the defense, and then it's formation recognition, and that came

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<v Speaker 2>out in an empty set, which means there's no backs

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<v Speaker 2>in the backfield. So now you have to adjust the

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<v Speaker 2>defense that was just called to what the adjustment is.

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<v Speaker 2>So there's the linebacker knowing formations and having to make

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<v Speaker 2>the adjustment. So I line up on the inside receiver,

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<v Speaker 2>the number three receiver, counting from the outside end one two, three,

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<v Speaker 2>you got to line up on this side. So what

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<v Speaker 2>my new responsibility is is to blitz. But as you blitz,

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<v Speaker 2>you have to read the protection. So there it is

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<v Speaker 2>post snap while the play is going on, recognizing what's happening,

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<v Speaker 2>and then going to another adjustment. So the guard actually

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<v Speaker 2>kicks out to me to block me. And if that happens,

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<v Speaker 2>now you drop back to the center of the field,

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<v Speaker 2>get your eyes back, and now you have to pattern read.

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<v Speaker 2>If there's a slant coming, you have to go step

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<v Speaker 2>in front of that slant. So recognizing the pass, the

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<v Speaker 2>pattern and then recognizing what you have to do and

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<v Speaker 2>then dropping back. So now I'm dropping back as a

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<v Speaker 2>linebacker because I recognize something else so I did that.

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<v Speaker 2>Now get your eyes back to the quarterback. Now read

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<v Speaker 2>the quarterback, which is something I had never done before,

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<v Speaker 2>because now you're reading his eyes and his intentions. Here

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<v Speaker 2>comes the ball. Now catch it, which is something I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't do at all in college. So the ball was

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<v Speaker 2>there after all those adjustments, he puts it up, caught

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<v Speaker 2>the football. All right, I've caught interceptions before. Now score.

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<v Speaker 2>So taking that to the house, reading the block, getting

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<v Speaker 2>to the sideline. All of that happened within one play.

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<v Speaker 2>And all of that is what I was trying to learn,

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<v Speaker 2>and to have it all sort of happened in that

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<v Speaker 2>one play. It sort of encapsulated my entire progression to

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<v Speaker 2>where that's probably the play that told me I could.

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<v Speaker 1>Do it as a teachable moment again with your kids,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, oh Dad, I got this, I got this.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you then tell them, hey, look, at this point

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<v Speaker 1>my professional career, I'm at the highest level that you

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<v Speaker 1>could be at. Don't necessarily tell me that you have it,

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<v Speaker 1>because it took me six years before I knew that.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe I had You know, I could play in this,

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<v Speaker 1>not that you couldn't play, But now I have it.

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<v Speaker 1>That's something that you can certainly pass along to your kids,

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<v Speaker 1>Isn't it?

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<v Speaker 2>The lesson to everyone, even even like the young football

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<v Speaker 2>players that are trying to find their way, is you've

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<v Speaker 2>got a long term goal, but in the meantime, what

0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.520
<v Speaker 2>can you do while you're learning it? That was like

0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:55.600
<v Speaker 2>that was the extra layer of it. Yeah, I want

0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:57.480
<v Speaker 2>to play linebacker. I have to learn to play outside

0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.719
<v Speaker 2>the off the ball linebacker. But they're just going to

0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.320
<v Speaker 2>let me sit there and learn and do nothing. You

0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:06.160
<v Speaker 2>still have to prove your worth to whatever team you're with.

0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:11.200
<v Speaker 2>So special team's situational pass rusher. That's what I was.

0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.880
<v Speaker 2>That's the cactus package. So I got that and I

0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.400
<v Speaker 2>got it. But still the other layer is still learning

0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.920
<v Speaker 2>to progress at that other goal that you have, but

0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.000
<v Speaker 2>still proving my worth in the immediate time.

0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:26.320
<v Speaker 1>Great lesson, great lesson. So go ahead, go ahead.

0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:31.560
<v Speaker 5>So after you reach that Pro Bowl level individual high again,

0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:33.280
<v Speaker 5>he said, he said, I don't want to make too

0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.040
<v Speaker 5>big of a deal because he knows that they're a

0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.040
<v Speaker 5>bigger fish to fry in this town. But your career

0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:42.160
<v Speaker 5>has dealt a setback, and your personal life obviously a

0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:42.960
<v Speaker 5>huge scare.

0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah my stroke, yes, yeah.

0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.360
<v Speaker 4>Well, I mean, what are you thinking at that point,

0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:48.720
<v Speaker 4>is are you thinking it's over?

0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:51.599
<v Speaker 2>Immediately thought it was over. I mean when when my

0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.320
<v Speaker 2>doctor put his hand on my shoulder and told me

0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:57.280
<v Speaker 2>I've had a stroke, was like, what are you talking about?

0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:59.000
<v Speaker 2>The only time I've heard the word stroke is on

0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.160
<v Speaker 2>a golf course. You know how many strokes you're going

0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:03.400
<v Speaker 2>to give me? Any handicap and things like that, you know,

0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:05.920
<v Speaker 2>So it was it was sort of crazy. But waking

0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:08.000
<v Speaker 2>up in the middle of the night on February fifteenth,

0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:10.320
<v Speaker 2>and you know, you know, I ended up in the

0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.720
<v Speaker 2>morning sort of loss of vision, loss of left field

0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:14.960
<v Speaker 2>division in both my eyes, numbness down the left side

0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:17.200
<v Speaker 2>of my body. I didn't even know I was having

0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.640
<v Speaker 2>a stroke, you know, so calling the trainers, you know

0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.920
<v Speaker 2>what should we do? Them immediately telling me to call

0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:25.960
<v Speaker 2>nine one one. Get to make sure you get the

0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:28.800
<v Speaker 2>mass General because that's where the Patriots wanted, you know,

0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.800
<v Speaker 2>everything to happen. So getting down there, you have the stroke,

0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.040
<v Speaker 2>you realize I have the hole in my heart, I

0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.960
<v Speaker 2>got to have surgery, all of this stuff, and it's like, well,

0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.400
<v Speaker 2>my football career is over, and you know, I just

0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.239
<v Speaker 2>thought that, you know that it was just not possible

0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:47.719
<v Speaker 2>to ever be done because no one had ever done

0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:49.600
<v Speaker 2>that before. So I thought my career was over.

0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:51.640
<v Speaker 1>Would you have been okay with that, Teddy?

0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I would have been okay. I mean, I mean,

0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.240
<v Speaker 2>guse she accomplished a lot up in that until that point,

0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.800
<v Speaker 2>and you it'd be easy to say, you know, God

0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:02.920
<v Speaker 2>just telling you that's enough and you got to move on,

0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:05.320
<v Speaker 2>and this was this is just the hand you've been dealt.

0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.880
<v Speaker 2>It would have been incredibly sad, but I think I

0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.920
<v Speaker 2>would have been able to accept it. At that point.

0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.160
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't see, I couldn't walk right, they wouldn't let

0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.320
<v Speaker 2>me drive. Still had to have the procedure to close

0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:18.760
<v Speaker 2>the hole in my heart. I had a lot of

0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.520
<v Speaker 2>things to happen, so I knew I was pretty messed up.

0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:23.920
<v Speaker 2>And even in my mind, I thought something was wrong

0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.160
<v Speaker 2>with me medically, like like, what's wrong with you? Your

0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:28.280
<v Speaker 2>short circuit in up there in your brain. This shouldn't

0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.559
<v Speaker 2>be happening. You got problems, So yeah, you need to

0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:33.800
<v Speaker 2>stop playing football. So I think I would have been fine.

0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.040
<v Speaker 1>Then what then? What motivates you at that point in time?

0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:42.280
<v Speaker 1>Young family, young wife. You've had some success, you know,

0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.800
<v Speaker 1>at least you know, from a team standpoint and everything,

0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.360
<v Speaker 1>what pushes you at that point in time to say, Nope,

0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:49.840
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna I'm gonna try.

0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.520
<v Speaker 2>To do this. Well, it's just, man, if it was possible,

0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.599
<v Speaker 2>I wanted to give it a shot, and you know,

0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.600
<v Speaker 2>there were times where it just was not possible because

0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.320
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't. And if you can't see to your left,

0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.320
<v Speaker 2>you're just gonna get laid out on the football field.

0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.560
<v Speaker 2>Then you're a danger to yourself. So, I mean, the

0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.320
<v Speaker 2>time was twelve twenty three, you know, and I remember

0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.800
<v Speaker 2>that time vividly and seeing a digital clock at twelve

0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:13.880
<v Speaker 2>twenty three, because what I saw when I looked at

0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:16.680
<v Speaker 2>digital clocks usually was like two twenty three. I couldn't

0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.360
<v Speaker 2>really see. I'd have to turn my head to get

0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:21.720
<v Speaker 2>the right look on a clock to tell the time.

0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.520
<v Speaker 2>But slowly, you know, that little digital clock, and they

0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.600
<v Speaker 2>have little pieces of the number, like a bottom of

0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:29.160
<v Speaker 2>the one and the top of the one. It was

0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.800
<v Speaker 2>weird because the bottom of the one started to show

0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:33.840
<v Speaker 2>up a little bit, and then and then the top

0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.440
<v Speaker 2>of the one started to show and then that little

0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.680
<v Speaker 2>battery symbol that says, you know, you need to put

0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:41.720
<v Speaker 2>a nine volte battery in your in your clock, you

0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:43.920
<v Speaker 2>know what I mean? That little symbol right there. We

0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:47.240
<v Speaker 2>had a digital clock up top on a dresser because

0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:50.360
<v Speaker 2>my wife was breastfeeding Dante or son, who had just

0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.760
<v Speaker 2>been born, and I could. I woke up one night

0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:54.120
<v Speaker 2>and I saw the whole clock and I saw the

0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.880
<v Speaker 2>little battery symbol, and I'm like, WHOA, I can see

0:14:58.520 --> 0:14:59.560
<v Speaker 2>maybe this is possible.

0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:05.880
<v Speaker 1>Literally the light shines, yeah, a nine vote battery.

0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:06.560
<v Speaker 2>Luck.

0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.720
<v Speaker 1>You were listening to the Pats from the Past podcast

0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.920
<v Speaker 1>brought you by Who but W. B. Mason. W Mason

0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.080
<v Speaker 1>delivers all of your business essentials for free with no

0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:23.320
<v Speaker 1>minimum mortar, break furniture, facilities, maintenance, office supplies, and so

0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.000
<v Speaker 1>much more for the latest delivery of business products. Nobody

0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:28.360
<v Speaker 1>does it better than.

0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:29.080
<v Speaker 2>Who but W. B.

0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:29.560
<v Speaker 1>Mason.

0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.680
<v Speaker 3>So it's funny because I go on outside the lines.

0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.120
<v Speaker 4>I'm on outside lines of Jackie mcmullon right and with

0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.280
<v Speaker 4>this is when you were coming back, and she's arguing

0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.280
<v Speaker 4>that you shouldn't come back, and I'm arguing that you

0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:45.800
<v Speaker 4>should come back if you know, if the doctors are

0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:47.880
<v Speaker 4>clearing you and you think you can do it. And

0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.520
<v Speaker 4>I remember a buddy calling me, and he goes, man,

0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.400
<v Speaker 4>you just got slapped around on ESPN by Jackie McMullen.

0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.760
<v Speaker 4>He was like, no, I mean, but but I figured,

0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:00.720
<v Speaker 4>you know you were you had to know the risks

0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.880
<v Speaker 4>what they were, and if you were willing to do

0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.600
<v Speaker 4>it with a family and the doctor saying you could

0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:08.080
<v Speaker 4>do it, then you could do it.

0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Almost I related to this. I read it this

0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:12.920
<v Speaker 2>a couple of weeks ago when I was on NFL

0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.560
<v Speaker 2>Live when they were talking about Alex Smith and how

0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:19.800
<v Speaker 2>his injury and he developed sepsist and the infection and

0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:21.680
<v Speaker 2>they almost had to take his leg and he I

0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.240
<v Speaker 2>mean life threatening type of stuff, and he wanted to

0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.000
<v Speaker 2>search around and see who was who he could call

0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.600
<v Speaker 2>and talk to, who had done this before. Yeah, And

0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.080
<v Speaker 2>the doctors are like, yeah, man, there's nobody. Nobody's come

0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:36.840
<v Speaker 2>back from this. And that's what it was like for me,

0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.760
<v Speaker 2>because I remember the conversation with my doctor and I

0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:41.320
<v Speaker 2>was like, give me the phone number of the guy

0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.120
<v Speaker 2>that's done this before, so I can ask him all

0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:45.640
<v Speaker 2>the hundred questions, one hundred questions that I have. Is

0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.200
<v Speaker 2>my brain going to explode? Is the device in my

0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 2>heart going to get moved? Is it gonna move if

0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:55.480
<v Speaker 2>I get hit or something like that. And he said, yeah, Teddy, yeah,

0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:59.640
<v Speaker 2>you'd be the first. I said, I'll call you back.

0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:02.560
<v Speaker 2>It's like, bro, I mean, you don't know if you

0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.320
<v Speaker 2>want to be that guy. Oh yeah, quotation marks here

0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.320
<v Speaker 2>for you listening data free zone. And that's what they

0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:10.560
<v Speaker 2>told me that I'd be in a data free zone

0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.880
<v Speaker 2>to where every two weeks, Teddy, when you come back

0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.359
<v Speaker 2>to Massachusetts General Hospital during the football season and we

0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.880
<v Speaker 2>do the bubble test to see if the device still works,

0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:22.400
<v Speaker 2>we'll be taking all that data for the next guy.

0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:25.960
<v Speaker 2>So I was like, okay, so you got to play

0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.280
<v Speaker 2>that guinea pig role. But for me, this is what

0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:30.159
<v Speaker 2>I knew. Guys, I mean, if I didn't give it

0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:33.560
<v Speaker 2>a shot five years, ten years down the road, I'd

0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.480
<v Speaker 2>regret it. And if they were telling me it's possible,

0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.359
<v Speaker 2>and they were, But doctors, everyone out there, you know

0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:41.760
<v Speaker 2>what doctor do. It's never black and white. It's like gray,

0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:46.720
<v Speaker 2>chances are slim or it shouldn't and all of those words,

0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:48.880
<v Speaker 2>just like, hey, can I get like a definitive answer here?

0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:50.800
<v Speaker 2>But you don't have those moving forward, And those are

0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:52.719
<v Speaker 2>the things emotionally you just have to deal with.

0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:55.560
<v Speaker 1>So it's a trailblazer, Teddy. My word's not yours, but

0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:59.200
<v Speaker 1>your trailblazer here, you know. And now today you're working

0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.120
<v Speaker 1>with stroke victims and people can see you, and those

0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.320
<v Speaker 1>that get to meet you in person can actually maybe

0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.320
<v Speaker 1>physically touch you, and you can be the symbol for

0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.520
<v Speaker 1>you know what I did it don't give up and

0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:11.399
<v Speaker 1>don't give up.

0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:12.960
<v Speaker 2>And a lot of them tell me, well, I'm not

0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:14.680
<v Speaker 2>even going to try and come back to play in

0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:17.000
<v Speaker 2>the NFL. Right, All I got to do is get

0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.560
<v Speaker 2>back to picking up my kids and having a healthy

0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.040
<v Speaker 2>lifestyle and getting back to my desk job and doing

0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:25.080
<v Speaker 2>what I do. So I appreciate you setting the example

0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.680
<v Speaker 2>that it's possible. And of course, I mean even since

0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.560
<v Speaker 2>my recent episode, I had another stroke, a mini stroke,

0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.160
<v Speaker 2>a TIA, a transit schemic attack last July fourth, and

0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:39.159
<v Speaker 2>you know, I mean I lost my left face, it

0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:43.040
<v Speaker 2>all drooped and my speech was slurred, and you know,

0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.479
<v Speaker 2>I had a lot of other symptoms that ended up

0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:49.000
<v Speaker 2>ended up getting better after my second stroke. But people

0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:51.800
<v Speaker 2>just constantly, you know, want to talk to me about it.

0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:53.919
<v Speaker 2>And I talked to a lot of stroke survivors and

0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:57.000
<v Speaker 2>you know, that's what Teddy's team does. It's my foundation,

0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.840
<v Speaker 2>and we raise awareness for stroke. I mean the war

0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:03.080
<v Speaker 2>signs of stroke, the balance issues I had, the loss

0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:05.959
<v Speaker 2>of eyesight, the facial droop, the arm weakness, the speech,

0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.560
<v Speaker 2>the slurred speech, you know, time to call nine to

0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:10.280
<v Speaker 2>one one. You know, that's just the thing that I

0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.800
<v Speaker 2>try to preach over and over again. Be fast is

0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:18.879
<v Speaker 2>the acronym. And if I'm that guy that everybody looks too,

0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:21.320
<v Speaker 2>and the other people that have to get the same

0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:23.160
<v Speaker 2>procedure that I got in my heart. And I've heard

0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.119
<v Speaker 2>so many times. My doctor said I got to get

0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.280
<v Speaker 2>the Bruski and they tell them the story. I'm proud

0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:32.520
<v Speaker 2>of that. I'm proud of that. And things are going

0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:34.840
<v Speaker 2>well for me now and Teddy's team is doing well

0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:36.200
<v Speaker 2>and it's changing a lot of lives.

0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:38.199
<v Speaker 4>So, Teddy, were they able to I mean, obviously the

0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:42.320
<v Speaker 4>whole in the heart contributed to the first stroke, Yes.

0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:43.800
<v Speaker 3>What about the most recent one?

0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.639
<v Speaker 2>That's the thing going forward. After the first stroke, they

0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.240
<v Speaker 2>closed the hole in my heart, They put me on

0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:52.680
<v Speaker 2>a baby aspirin and thought that, you know, things would

0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:55.000
<v Speaker 2>go well. And it did for fourteen years, you know,

0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.400
<v Speaker 2>And so I had the episode again on July fourth,

0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:01.159
<v Speaker 2>and it once again it was a schemic they believe

0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:03.959
<v Speaker 2>in terms of the schemic means sort of a clotting issue.

0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:07.640
<v Speaker 2>So they put me on a stronger blood thinner where

0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:10.240
<v Speaker 2>I can still be active and live a healthy lifestyle,

0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.360
<v Speaker 2>which I'm very fortunate of. But that was the adjustment then,

0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:16.160
<v Speaker 2>because they thought, Okay, the aspirin was fine, but ah,

0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.639
<v Speaker 2>just to be safe, let's go this route. And you know,

0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:20.800
<v Speaker 2>that's that's where I am now.

0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:23.159
<v Speaker 1>So I asked you, you know, if it had if

0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:24.920
<v Speaker 1>you never played again, would you been all right? And

0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.879
<v Speaker 1>you said no, but that you're seeing the Yeah, I

0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:28.600
<v Speaker 1>would have been fine.

0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:28.920
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:31.719
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but you you see the light on the digital

0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:33.359
<v Speaker 1>battery and you don't have to change it. And so

0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:35.560
<v Speaker 1>now you say, I'm going to try and do this.

0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:39.240
<v Speaker 1>Was it a difficult decision to try to do that? Teddy?

0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:41.320
<v Speaker 1>Brian talked about when you got beat up on ESPN

0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.720
<v Speaker 1>or whatever it was. How difficult was that for you

0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:44.120
<v Speaker 1>and your wife?

0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.480
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? A lot of people disagree with my decision, you know,

0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:48.320
<v Speaker 2>and they thought, why did I have to do it?

0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:51.320
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you'll get you'll get questions. I got questions

0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.520
<v Speaker 2>from the closest of people in my life telling me

0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:56.080
<v Speaker 2>why are you doing this? I mean, you've played nine years,

0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.000
<v Speaker 2>you've been in the Pro Bowl, you've made plenty of money,

0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:03.480
<v Speaker 2>you've won championship hips. You're fine, but that's not living life.

0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:06.040
<v Speaker 2>You know. This was a challenge for me, and it

0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:07.800
<v Speaker 2>was something that I need to do just to prove

0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:10.600
<v Speaker 2>to myself that no, I'm not going to just live

0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:13.080
<v Speaker 2>in hiding, you know, because I've had a stroke and

0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:15.880
<v Speaker 2>it was something at first I was ashamed of. And

0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:19.880
<v Speaker 2>it took me a little while mentally to heal longer

0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:23.280
<v Speaker 2>than it did physically, mentally and emotionally to get to

0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:25.480
<v Speaker 2>the point where, you know what, I'm proud to be

0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:28.680
<v Speaker 2>a stroke survivor, you know, because that's that's just sort

0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:32.000
<v Speaker 2>of the process that people go through. But imagine telling

0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:34.880
<v Speaker 2>your wife too, and I want to play football again,

0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:37.879
<v Speaker 2>and she's like, what you are my husband and the

0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:40.560
<v Speaker 2>father of my three children. We need to talk because

0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:41.720
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if this is a good I'm not

0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:45.040
<v Speaker 2>a supportive partner. Yes, I'm very Supportiveti well, and if

0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.560
<v Speaker 2>I'm not mistaken, I think Bill Belichick broke down the

0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:54.120
<v Speaker 2>uh oh, yeah, that's my favorite one. I was about

0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:55.600
<v Speaker 2>to break it down. He's like, no, no, no, no,

0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.640
<v Speaker 2>I got this. I want to know how we feel

0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:04.440
<v Speaker 2>about having Teddy Bruski back. And then the oh yeah

0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:06.280
<v Speaker 2>it could it could have been a little more rhythmic.

0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:12.840
<v Speaker 1>But that was That was thirteen weeks. Am I right

0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:15.280
<v Speaker 1>about that? Since a stroke? When you come back against Buffalo,

0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:19.600
<v Speaker 1>that's not I mean, that's remarkable. And when you're being

0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:22.600
<v Speaker 1>introduced and they don't introduce individuals around here, they you know,

0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:25.640
<v Speaker 1>mentioned starting lives or everything. But I remember vividly coming

0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:27.560
<v Speaker 1>out of the tunnel and your name being introduced. What

0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:28.360
<v Speaker 1>did that mean to you?

0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:36.159
<v Speaker 2>It was chilling, really to and scary. I mean I

0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:38.040
<v Speaker 2>didn't know how it was going to go, you know,

0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:40.520
<v Speaker 2>I'd say that first I came off of pup ended

0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:44.320
<v Speaker 2>up playing the last part of the season, and I

0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:46.040
<v Speaker 2>didn't know if I was making the right decision to

0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:47.960
<v Speaker 2>tell you the truth because there was all that gray

0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:51.520
<v Speaker 2>The doctors would tell me. But that reception in Jillette

0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:55.000
<v Speaker 2>Stadium that that night was something I'd never forget, and

0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:57.359
<v Speaker 2>you know, people still talk to me about it today.

0:22:57.440 --> 0:22:59.440
<v Speaker 2>I was I was there at that Buffalo Bills game,

0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:01.879
<v Speaker 2>you know, and I remember you making that tackle on

0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:04.480
<v Speaker 2>the first and second play and and all that stuff,

0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:07.399
<v Speaker 2>and it was it was it was this one of

0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:10.480
<v Speaker 2>the most special pregame moments I've ever had my career.

0:23:10.640 --> 0:23:12.600
<v Speaker 2>Definitely the most special. Yeah.

0:23:12.640 --> 0:23:14.840
<v Speaker 1>So, now that you look back on it, are you

0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:19.240
<v Speaker 1>happy and do you feel like it was a difficult decision.

0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:23.480
<v Speaker 1>I'm really happy and I'm proud of myself for doing

0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:27.080
<v Speaker 1>this because nobody said you broke the mold here, You're

0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:29.000
<v Speaker 1>the first one to do it. Do you feel good

0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:31.240
<v Speaker 1>about yourself at that point in time that you got

0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:33.359
<v Speaker 1>to play an additional what do we talk about all

0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:34.520
<v Speaker 1>four four.

0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:40.320
<v Speaker 2>Years ago years? Yeah? I do. I look at stroke

0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:43.680
<v Speaker 2>survivors today, and I mean anybody out there that are

0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:47.280
<v Speaker 2>survivors of adversity, cancer, losing a loved one, anything, and

0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:50.960
<v Speaker 2>coming back from the most difficult adversity you have in

0:23:51.000 --> 0:23:54.360
<v Speaker 2>your life. I mean, it's it's your own little comeback,

0:23:54.600 --> 0:24:00.480
<v Speaker 2>you know. I mean, it's it's it's it's it's it's huge.

0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:02.919
<v Speaker 2>You know, there's a huge magnitude of it that in

0:24:02.960 --> 0:24:06.399
<v Speaker 2>your life. It's the most difficult thing that you're going through.

0:24:06.560 --> 0:24:09.080
<v Speaker 2>So it equals to what I went through. I mean

0:24:09.119 --> 0:24:11.320
<v Speaker 2>even though I went back to play professional football, put

0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:13.680
<v Speaker 2>on a helmet, started button heads again with the very

0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:16.919
<v Speaker 2>brain that I had a brain injury too. That's different.

0:24:16.920 --> 0:24:19.159
<v Speaker 2>That was mine. I mean, yours to come back for

0:24:19.240 --> 0:24:21.719
<v Speaker 2>your comeback. All the stroke survivors I work with, I

0:24:21.800 --> 0:24:24.720
<v Speaker 2>believe it that their comeback is just as special as mine,

0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:27.800
<v Speaker 2>and they have the same feeling I felt that night

0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:30.640
<v Speaker 2>in their heart. But it's a different It's it's done

0:24:30.680 --> 0:24:33.280
<v Speaker 2>a different scale in terms of attention and things, but

0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:34.440
<v Speaker 2>it's still just as special.

0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:38.880
<v Speaker 1>What does the backer brotherhood?

0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:39.600
<v Speaker 2>Is it?

0:24:39.720 --> 0:24:40.560
<v Speaker 1>Backer brotherhood?

0:24:40.560 --> 0:24:41.080
<v Speaker 2>Backerhood?

0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:41.720
<v Speaker 1>Backerhood?

0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:42.439
<v Speaker 2>Backerhood?

0:24:42.920 --> 0:24:46.400
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's that fraternity like I think.

0:24:46.200 --> 0:24:48.560
<v Speaker 2>Each I mean, I know what High Tower's going through,

0:24:48.680 --> 0:24:51.960
<v Speaker 2>Van Oyay's going through, Landing Roberts, you know what their grind,

0:24:52.040 --> 0:24:53.640
<v Speaker 2>you know they call it, you know, all the way

0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:58.240
<v Speaker 2>back to McGuinness and Slade and everyone. Then Tippet. Tippett

0:24:58.280 --> 0:25:00.440
<v Speaker 2>knows about the backerhood too. I mean, I mean he

0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:03.840
<v Speaker 2>started it. And then just a brotherhood that all of

0:25:03.920 --> 0:25:06.800
<v Speaker 2>us have in terms of you know, we know what

0:25:06.880 --> 0:25:09.320
<v Speaker 2>it takes to play the position, the commitment you have

0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:13.440
<v Speaker 2>to make and when we see I mean even even

0:25:13.480 --> 0:25:16.320
<v Speaker 2>guys like you know Luke Keikley have to retire, you know,

0:25:16.359 --> 0:25:18.679
<v Speaker 2>and but him have the success that he had all

0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:21.159
<v Speaker 2>the way to High Tower, and and everyone that Jamie

0:25:21.240 --> 0:25:25.400
<v Speaker 2>Collins different teams. I mean it almost it just spreads

0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:28.240
<v Speaker 2>in terms of that linebacker position. I mean, the quarterbacks

0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:30.440
<v Speaker 2>don't have their only thing. No, it's not just the quarterbacks.

0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:32.960
<v Speaker 2>You know, every position you know has a mutual respect

0:25:33.280 --> 0:25:36.600
<v Speaker 2>amongst players. But it's even more special when you're wearing

0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:40.240
<v Speaker 2>a uniform that you know, that that we have worn

0:25:40.400 --> 0:25:43.639
<v Speaker 2>in the past and we see you, you know, upholding

0:25:43.680 --> 0:25:47.359
<v Speaker 2>the standard that we've tried to set and just an

0:25:47.800 --> 0:25:50.320
<v Speaker 2>incredible sense of pride when I think of the linebackers

0:25:50.359 --> 0:25:53.359
<v Speaker 2>here today and what they did. That's that special little

0:25:53.359 --> 0:25:55.320
<v Speaker 2>thing with the Boogeyman. They put a nice little name

0:25:55.359 --> 0:25:57.840
<v Speaker 2>on it last year, and that little player we talked

0:25:57.840 --> 0:26:00.600
<v Speaker 2>about in Detroit, for me, was a form of that

0:26:00.640 --> 0:26:03.919
<v Speaker 2>Boogeyman defense that they have, you know, not knowing who's rushing,

0:26:03.960 --> 0:26:07.800
<v Speaker 2>who's dropping out to confuse the quarterback, get the interceptions,

0:26:07.840 --> 0:26:11.520
<v Speaker 2>those type of things. So they're still doing the same stuff,

0:26:11.840 --> 0:26:14.600
<v Speaker 2>but they're doing it just as well. And that's why

0:26:14.880 --> 0:26:17.639
<v Speaker 2>the pride that guys like you know, McGinnis and I,

0:26:17.720 --> 0:26:20.640
<v Speaker 2>who are in the media and played that linebacker position,

0:26:21.480 --> 0:26:23.480
<v Speaker 2>really respect the guys that are in this locker room.

0:26:23.520 --> 0:26:25.520
<v Speaker 3>And you have a rocking chair with all the numbers

0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:28.320
<v Speaker 3>carved into ye tell us the rocking chair story.

0:26:28.480 --> 0:26:31.280
<v Speaker 2>So I think he was I don't know what that was.

0:26:31.359 --> 0:26:33.720
<v Speaker 2>That might have been six or something like that, when

0:26:33.920 --> 0:26:37.080
<v Speaker 2>all the linebackers that were left were over thirty years old,

0:26:37.720 --> 0:26:41.800
<v Speaker 2>and Belichick called it, I don't know, old man's club,

0:26:41.880 --> 0:26:44.000
<v Speaker 2>club mean something. I don't know to where he was

0:26:44.080 --> 0:26:46.080
<v Speaker 2>joking about it with us. And we walked into our

0:26:46.280 --> 0:26:49.160
<v Speaker 2>meeting room and all the comfortable chairs had been taken

0:26:49.200 --> 0:26:52.959
<v Speaker 2>out and they've been replaced with rocking chairs. So and

0:26:53.040 --> 0:26:56.639
<v Speaker 2>we had to use them the entire year. So we

0:26:56.680 --> 0:26:58.680
<v Speaker 2>had to buy our own cushions to put on there.

0:26:58.720 --> 0:27:01.040
<v Speaker 2>I'm buying Temper Peter Kush to put on my rocking

0:27:01.160 --> 0:27:03.240
<v Speaker 2>chair and all that stuff, and I'm sitting there rocking,

0:27:03.320 --> 0:27:06.080
<v Speaker 2>and I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna personalize this thing.

0:27:06.119 --> 0:27:09.040
<v Speaker 2>And so I would carve in the initials of every

0:27:09.040 --> 0:27:13.400
<v Speaker 2>coach that was there since my rookie year, and then

0:27:13.440 --> 0:27:15.520
<v Speaker 2>I'd carve in all the numbers of all the guys

0:27:15.600 --> 0:27:18.119
<v Speaker 2>all the way back to you know Slade, and there

0:27:18.119 --> 0:27:20.840
<v Speaker 2>are multiple numbers, you know, like that have been used.

0:27:20.880 --> 0:27:23.040
<v Speaker 2>But I put stickers on mine. I mean it was

0:27:23.080 --> 0:27:25.600
<v Speaker 2>it was like elaborate. Everybody knew who my chair was.

0:27:25.640 --> 0:27:28.200
<v Speaker 2>And I still have it to this day. Actually, yes,

0:27:28.280 --> 0:27:28.879
<v Speaker 2>I still have it.

0:27:28.920 --> 0:27:31.119
<v Speaker 1>And do you have the cover of Sports Illustrated maybe

0:27:31.160 --> 0:27:33.240
<v Speaker 1>hanging over because there's probably not a lot of Sports

0:27:33.240 --> 0:27:36.359
<v Speaker 1>Illustrated covers that have the linebackers on it. You remember

0:27:36.400 --> 0:27:39.640
<v Speaker 1>the I remember the photo shoot No. Seven you Rosie

0:27:41.720 --> 0:27:44.840
<v Speaker 1>j all of a cover?

0:27:45.000 --> 0:27:48.240
<v Speaker 2>Still have that? Yes, still smiling. I think the headline

0:27:48.280 --> 0:27:51.000
<v Speaker 2>was when we were still undefeated that point, and it

0:27:51.040 --> 0:27:53.919
<v Speaker 2>was a good group. I really love playing with Junior Seu.

0:27:54.400 --> 0:27:56.199
<v Speaker 2>That was I mean even when I was when I

0:27:56.240 --> 0:27:58.520
<v Speaker 2>was a younger linebacker learning, I mean I was watching,

0:27:58.640 --> 0:28:01.640
<v Speaker 2>we'd watch opposing offensive, but when Junior was playing with him,

0:28:01.640 --> 0:28:04.719
<v Speaker 2>I just watched Junior, you know, because he had that

0:28:04.760 --> 0:28:08.639
<v Speaker 2>type of impact coming off the film. But yeah, the

0:28:09.440 --> 0:28:13.440
<v Speaker 2>the Sports Illustrated something is covered is special.

0:28:14.040 --> 0:28:17.159
<v Speaker 1>So when Teddy, when you made the decision to retire

0:28:17.240 --> 0:28:19.400
<v Speaker 1>with you at peace, did you come to Peace?

0:28:19.760 --> 0:28:22.159
<v Speaker 2>I was, I was, because it's different. It was different

0:28:22.160 --> 0:28:24.800
<v Speaker 2>for me, and that's why I understand everyone that wants

0:28:24.800 --> 0:28:27.720
<v Speaker 2>to still move on and play. But that was my

0:28:27.760 --> 0:28:31.200
<v Speaker 2>fourth year after a stroke, and you know, I don't

0:28:31.240 --> 0:28:33.879
<v Speaker 2>count a lot of tackles my career tackles, but I

0:28:33.960 --> 0:28:36.400
<v Speaker 2>made three hundred and sixty six tackles as a stroke survivor,

0:28:37.000 --> 0:28:40.920
<v Speaker 2>and I was proud of that, you know. So we

0:28:40.920 --> 0:28:43.760
<v Speaker 2>were still trying to win that championship in O seven,

0:28:44.040 --> 0:28:45.920
<v Speaker 2>you know, and that didn't happen, and I got to

0:28:45.960 --> 0:28:49.040
<v Speaker 2>playing good football again, leading the team in tackles, I think.

0:28:49.280 --> 0:28:52.840
<v Speaker 2>But still I knew when the time came, I mean

0:28:53.280 --> 0:28:54.920
<v Speaker 2>the time came, I wasn't going to try to play

0:28:54.920 --> 0:28:58.800
<v Speaker 2>for any organization. The extra attachment of how mister Craft

0:28:58.840 --> 0:29:02.880
<v Speaker 2>and the organization even embraced me during my stroke, and

0:29:03.040 --> 0:29:05.920
<v Speaker 2>mister Kraft sending me to wild Cornell Medical Center in

0:29:05.960 --> 0:29:08.760
<v Speaker 2>New York to get another opinion, that's not that's just

0:29:08.840 --> 0:29:11.600
<v Speaker 2>that's not an organization, that's a family, you know. So

0:29:12.480 --> 0:29:16.560
<v Speaker 2>I knew I was playing for the best coach, you know,

0:29:17.320 --> 0:29:19.600
<v Speaker 2>in the history of the game, all right, And when

0:29:19.600 --> 0:29:21.360
<v Speaker 2>he told me it was time, it was going to

0:29:21.400 --> 0:29:24.760
<v Speaker 2>be time. And so we had that meeting and Bill

0:29:24.800 --> 0:29:27.560
<v Speaker 2>thought that you know you play, we think it's time

0:29:27.600 --> 0:29:29.000
<v Speaker 2>to move on. And I was like, you know what,

0:29:29.080 --> 0:29:31.320
<v Speaker 2>I agree, I'll go home and talk to Heidi and

0:29:31.360 --> 0:29:33.920
<v Speaker 2>it's time. I think so too, coach. So next day,

0:29:33.960 --> 0:29:35.360
<v Speaker 2>of course, we had the press conference.

0:29:35.920 --> 0:29:38.960
<v Speaker 3>It's going to be a hard conversation.

0:29:39.080 --> 0:29:41.600
<v Speaker 2>It is, and I think I knew it was coming.

0:29:41.720 --> 0:29:43.480
<v Speaker 2>I knew it was coming. You know those points where

0:29:43.480 --> 0:29:46.479
<v Speaker 2>you see yourself on film and they splice in the

0:29:46.520 --> 0:29:49.600
<v Speaker 2>same defense of like seven years ago, and there was

0:29:49.640 --> 0:29:51.760
<v Speaker 2>me seven years ago, and then there was me the

0:29:51.800 --> 0:29:53.880
<v Speaker 2>other day. In practice, it's like, ooh, I used to

0:29:53.880 --> 0:29:54.520
<v Speaker 2>be fat.

0:29:56.080 --> 0:29:58.160
<v Speaker 3>The film doesn't lie.

0:29:58.360 --> 0:30:01.640
<v Speaker 2>So don't worry. I try to talk to talk him

0:30:01.640 --> 0:30:03.440
<v Speaker 2>out of it for a little bit, but then it

0:30:03.480 --> 0:30:06.480
<v Speaker 2>was I just knew. I agreed it was. It was

0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:07.400
<v Speaker 2>time for me to move on.

0:30:07.960 --> 0:30:11.040
<v Speaker 1>Were you blown away when he referenced you at that

0:30:11.080 --> 0:30:14.840
<v Speaker 1>press conference as the perfect patriot?

0:30:15.280 --> 0:30:17.120
<v Speaker 2>I was like, who is this guy? Yeah?

0:30:17.200 --> 0:30:20.680
<v Speaker 1>You didn't hear that in earlier? Yeah, on the low lights.

0:30:20.800 --> 0:30:23.160
<v Speaker 2>I think I think Bill, and I'm having perspective of it,

0:30:23.200 --> 0:30:27.120
<v Speaker 2>of being ten years out now. I think Bill keeps

0:30:27.160 --> 0:30:31.400
<v Speaker 2>it so business like for his players while they're here

0:30:31.960 --> 0:30:35.080
<v Speaker 2>that because he knows eventually there's a tough decision he

0:30:35.120 --> 0:30:38.040
<v Speaker 2>has to make, and that tough decision is that meeting

0:30:38.080 --> 0:30:40.360
<v Speaker 2>I had with him when he said, you know, we

0:30:40.400 --> 0:30:45.120
<v Speaker 2>think it's time, Teddy. So him keeping that little emotional

0:30:45.160 --> 0:30:48.880
<v Speaker 2>attachment separate is easier for him. And I understand that

0:30:48.960 --> 0:30:55.040
<v Speaker 2>now because my relationship with coach Belichick, with Bill post retirement,

0:30:55.080 --> 0:30:57.560
<v Speaker 2>it's different, you know. I mean, I mean I got

0:30:57.560 --> 0:30:59.040
<v Speaker 2>a text and I'm like, what the heck? Who is

0:30:59.080 --> 0:31:01.800
<v Speaker 2>this guy? I mean, where did this come from? You know?

0:31:01.880 --> 0:31:04.360
<v Speaker 2>And but it never was that during your playing days,

0:31:04.800 --> 0:31:09.560
<v Speaker 2>you know, so and it's you just know it's coming eventually.

0:31:09.800 --> 0:31:11.960
<v Speaker 2>But when he said that perfect player thing in the

0:31:11.960 --> 0:31:15.240
<v Speaker 2>press conference, that's when I started to did he just

0:31:15.240 --> 0:31:18.360
<v Speaker 2>say what I think he said? And it was extremely flattering,

0:31:19.120 --> 0:31:22.800
<v Speaker 2>and I think he just referenced what it was for

0:31:22.840 --> 0:31:25.480
<v Speaker 2>me from the beginning to the end in certain terms

0:31:25.480 --> 0:31:28.640
<v Speaker 2>of the work that I put in the transformation. I

0:31:28.680 --> 0:31:30.840
<v Speaker 2>had to go through, the changes I had to make.

0:31:31.320 --> 0:31:35.000
<v Speaker 2>And that's all he's always talking about, is developing your

0:31:35.040 --> 0:31:37.920
<v Speaker 2>game to end up, to change it to each offense,

0:31:38.000 --> 0:31:40.880
<v Speaker 2>to each to each defense. What player are you this week?

0:31:40.920 --> 0:31:42.760
<v Speaker 2>Can you do that type of thing? Can you pass

0:31:42.840 --> 0:31:44.880
<v Speaker 2>rush for us? Yeah? Can you play linebacker for us?

0:31:44.880 --> 0:31:46.920
<v Speaker 2>Can you play special teams? I don't know if there

0:31:46.920 --> 0:31:49.520
<v Speaker 2>was a role I didn't complete for him that he

0:31:49.600 --> 0:31:51.400
<v Speaker 2>wanted me to do. I could always do what he

0:31:51.440 --> 0:31:53.400
<v Speaker 2>wanted me to do. And you know, when he said

0:31:53.440 --> 0:31:56.480
<v Speaker 2>that that perfect player, you know, it sort of just

0:31:56.520 --> 0:31:58.240
<v Speaker 2>put a cherry on top end. I knew it was

0:31:58.280 --> 0:31:58.680
<v Speaker 2>time to go.

0:31:59.000 --> 0:32:01.320
<v Speaker 1>And you only played in one uniform and that doesn't

0:32:01.320 --> 0:32:04.200
<v Speaker 1>happen a lot incive professional sports now. Yeah, and maybe

0:32:04.240 --> 0:32:07.720
<v Speaker 1>that helps explain part of it, Teddy, is because you

0:32:07.800 --> 0:32:10.400
<v Speaker 1>talked about a family, you know, and this is a

0:32:10.400 --> 0:32:12.800
<v Speaker 1>different place and everything like that, that all had to

0:32:12.840 --> 0:32:14.760
<v Speaker 1>be part of that decision, like this is where I

0:32:14.760 --> 0:32:17.360
<v Speaker 1>want to stay. And how proud of you that there's

0:32:17.440 --> 0:32:19.400
<v Speaker 1>only one helmet that you ever wore in the National

0:32:19.400 --> 0:32:20.040
<v Speaker 1>Football League.

0:32:20.120 --> 0:32:23.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm guys, I'm extremely proud of that. I just

0:32:24.640 --> 0:32:27.120
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to know what it was like anywhere else, because,

0:32:27.800 --> 0:32:30.120
<v Speaker 2>you know, unfortunately for me, this ended up becoming the

0:32:30.200 --> 0:32:33.000
<v Speaker 2>standard on what everyone looks to. I like to think

0:32:33.040 --> 0:32:37.040
<v Speaker 2>that I, you know, somewhat mold that standard into what

0:32:37.120 --> 0:32:40.040
<v Speaker 2>it is. And then and then again, there was a

0:32:40.040 --> 0:32:42.600
<v Speaker 2>point where I was a free agent, and I did

0:32:42.640 --> 0:32:45.080
<v Speaker 2>trip to Cleveland, I did trip to Green Bay, I

0:32:45.120 --> 0:32:47.720
<v Speaker 2>did trip to Seattle. I talked to the coaches and

0:32:47.720 --> 0:32:50.320
<v Speaker 2>all of that stuff, but it just wasn't right, and

0:32:50.360 --> 0:32:52.680
<v Speaker 2>I just wanted to go back. I mean, I remember

0:32:52.680 --> 0:32:54.920
<v Speaker 2>walking into the Green Bay facility and that in the

0:32:55.200 --> 0:32:57.560
<v Speaker 2>in their four year was the super Bowl trophy that

0:32:57.560 --> 0:32:59.400
<v Speaker 2>they beat us in ninety six, and I'm like, I'm

0:32:59.400 --> 0:33:02.880
<v Speaker 2>not coming here. There's no way I'm coming here. Forget

0:33:02.880 --> 0:33:05.280
<v Speaker 2>that actually put me on a plane right now, you know,

0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:08.959
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. Just that sense of loyalty that I

0:33:09.040 --> 0:33:12.440
<v Speaker 2>have for the organization is very high, and I'm glad

0:33:12.600 --> 0:33:14.160
<v Speaker 2>and only that Patriot logo I wore.

0:33:14.480 --> 0:33:17.440
<v Speaker 4>And it's not for everybody, Like you mentioned how hard

0:33:17.520 --> 0:33:19.880
<v Speaker 4>it is to play here, yet you want it to

0:33:19.920 --> 0:33:22.240
<v Speaker 4>be here, but it's not for everybody.

0:33:22.400 --> 0:33:27.120
<v Speaker 2>It isn't. And Bill Parcells lay in my football foundation helped,

0:33:27.800 --> 0:33:31.760
<v Speaker 2>you know, getting used to the no nonsense business, pressurized

0:33:31.920 --> 0:33:34.959
<v Speaker 2>work environment by that coach Belichick puts on these players

0:33:35.000 --> 0:33:38.640
<v Speaker 2>every single day. I mean, it's it's football, guys. I

0:33:38.680 --> 0:33:43.200
<v Speaker 2>mean it's if you don't believe that, you know you

0:33:43.240 --> 0:33:46.920
<v Speaker 2>can lose. I mean it's that type of that type

0:33:46.920 --> 0:33:49.920
<v Speaker 2>of it's not fear, but that type of pressure that's

0:33:50.040 --> 0:33:53.360
<v Speaker 2>created if you make this mistake, this can happen. This

0:33:53.520 --> 0:33:56.680
<v Speaker 2>is what you have to do to prevent that. It's

0:33:56.800 --> 0:33:59.000
<v Speaker 2>it's a pressure cooker, and you have to be able

0:33:59.040 --> 0:34:02.200
<v Speaker 2>to have that type of mental fortitude and mental toughness, which,

0:34:02.200 --> 0:34:04.560
<v Speaker 2>as they say all the time, to deal with it

0:34:04.880 --> 0:34:07.440
<v Speaker 2>every single day. You know, that's why I respect Tom.

0:34:07.880 --> 0:34:10.000
<v Speaker 2>He's dealt with it with twenty years. I mean, to

0:34:10.160 --> 0:34:13.080
<v Speaker 2>deal with that type of pressure for twenty years at

0:34:13.080 --> 0:34:16.239
<v Speaker 2>the position that he plays too, It's it's you can't

0:34:16.239 --> 0:34:20.799
<v Speaker 2>compare it. I mean, he's not playing for someone that

0:34:20.920 --> 0:34:23.479
<v Speaker 2>has a you know a relationship with them and they're

0:34:23.520 --> 0:34:25.760
<v Speaker 2>so close and they go out and have pizza and beer.

0:34:26.120 --> 0:34:29.680
<v Speaker 2>It's someone that's always looking for him to do better.

0:34:30.200 --> 0:34:32.160
<v Speaker 2>And that's hard, and that's hard. It was hard for

0:34:32.200 --> 0:34:34.520
<v Speaker 2>me for all the years I spent with him, and

0:34:34.600 --> 0:34:36.799
<v Speaker 2>I'm sure it's it's hard for every player, but it's

0:34:36.800 --> 0:34:39.400
<v Speaker 2>something you got to have a special type of mentality.

0:34:39.640 --> 0:34:42.600
<v Speaker 1>Do you think Teddy as only playing for one organization?

0:34:42.920 --> 0:34:43.480
<v Speaker 2>Did that.

0:34:45.080 --> 0:34:47.960
<v Speaker 1>Influence you and your wife's decision to you know what,

0:34:48.040 --> 0:34:51.919
<v Speaker 1>let's put roots. We've got roots already here. Let's stay here,

0:34:52.120 --> 0:34:53.439
<v Speaker 1>let's raise our family here.

0:34:54.000 --> 0:34:57.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, what happened was I got I ended up getting

0:34:57.120 --> 0:34:59.479
<v Speaker 2>hired by another New England company, and that.

0:34:59.440 --> 0:35:01.520
<v Speaker 1>Knows who knows if that doesn't happen.

0:35:01.400 --> 0:35:04.400
<v Speaker 2>Right, if I wasn't a Patriot, you know. So I

0:35:04.440 --> 0:35:06.640
<v Speaker 2>mean when I asked them how far is it? I mean,

0:35:06.680 --> 0:35:07.960
<v Speaker 2>they called me and they said, do you want a

0:35:08.040 --> 0:35:10.400
<v Speaker 2>job as an analyst? I hadn't even been there ever,

0:35:11.000 --> 0:35:13.160
<v Speaker 2>and they offered me a job over the phone, a

0:35:13.200 --> 0:35:16.760
<v Speaker 2>three year deal over the phone. And I'm like, okay,

0:35:17.640 --> 0:35:20.360
<v Speaker 2>two hour drive, I can do it. And so I mean,

0:35:20.440 --> 0:35:22.720
<v Speaker 2>it's not like an everyday thing. So many Allen's analysts.

0:35:22.719 --> 0:35:24.600
<v Speaker 2>You're in and out throughout the course of you know,

0:35:24.680 --> 0:35:29.799
<v Speaker 2>the month. But I'm been at ESPN for eleven years now.

0:35:30.200 --> 0:35:33.319
<v Speaker 2>I'm almost as much as playing for the Patriots. And

0:35:33.760 --> 0:35:36.759
<v Speaker 2>with that, I live in the same home that I

0:35:36.800 --> 0:35:40.000
<v Speaker 2>lived in when I played here. I've raised three New

0:35:40.040 --> 0:35:44.480
<v Speaker 2>Englanders and I'm proud of that. You know. I'm from California,

0:35:44.920 --> 0:35:48.120
<v Speaker 2>my wife's from Arizona. We retire, it's like, all right,

0:35:48.160 --> 0:35:50.120
<v Speaker 2>well think about where we're gonna move. Okay, what do

0:35:50.520 --> 0:35:52.520
<v Speaker 2>you want to do boom phone rings. I guess we're

0:35:52.520 --> 0:35:55.160
<v Speaker 2>staying in New England and so but I got three

0:35:55.280 --> 0:35:58.320
<v Speaker 2>kids that love it here. We've earned We've learned to

0:35:58.360 --> 0:36:00.440
<v Speaker 2>love it. I've loved it for a long time. And

0:36:00.480 --> 0:36:04.319
<v Speaker 2>now I got a senior. I got a senior at

0:36:04.680 --> 0:36:07.000
<v Speaker 2>in high school, a freshman in high school, I got

0:36:07.000 --> 0:36:11.200
<v Speaker 2>a freshman in college, and things are just going great.

0:36:11.400 --> 0:36:12.520
<v Speaker 2>We we love New England.

0:36:12.760 --> 0:36:15.400
<v Speaker 1>If I told Teddy Bruski, your rookie back in nineteen

0:36:15.440 --> 0:36:19.759
<v Speaker 1>ninety six, one day you'd run a marathon, what would

0:36:19.760 --> 0:36:21.480
<v Speaker 1>that kill? What would that.

0:36:21.480 --> 0:36:22.160
<v Speaker 3>Kid help me?

0:36:23.680 --> 0:36:28.960
<v Speaker 2>You are crazy? Because preparing for that marathon, I only

0:36:29.080 --> 0:36:32.279
<v Speaker 2>I had only run one mile, was the farthest I

0:36:32.320 --> 0:36:34.800
<v Speaker 2>had ever run. Because of football, you just won hundreds,

0:36:34.880 --> 0:36:37.400
<v Speaker 2>one hundreds, or forties or fifties or twenties or something

0:36:37.440 --> 0:36:42.240
<v Speaker 2>like that. So I started Teddy's team after my stroke

0:36:42.280 --> 0:36:44.400
<v Speaker 2>in two thousand and five, and our first marathon team

0:36:44.440 --> 0:36:46.200
<v Speaker 2>was two thousand and six. But two thousand and six,

0:36:46.239 --> 0:36:48.160
<v Speaker 2>two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight, I was

0:36:48.200 --> 0:36:51.479
<v Speaker 2>still playing in the league. So all the runners were like, Teddy,

0:36:51.480 --> 0:36:52.680
<v Speaker 2>when are you gonna do it? When are you gonna

0:36:52.680 --> 0:36:56.040
<v Speaker 2>do it? I'm like, shoot, I'm trained for eight second bursts. Yeah,

0:36:56.080 --> 0:37:00.239
<v Speaker 2>I don't do that. So that's some peer pressure. Yeah.

0:37:00.280 --> 0:37:03.279
<v Speaker 2>I ended up taking on finally in twenty twelve and

0:37:03.400 --> 0:37:07.320
<v Speaker 2>twenty twelve I ran it, and jeez, everybody remembers a member.

0:37:07.440 --> 0:37:09.880
<v Speaker 2>I mean that ran the twenty twelve marathon. It was

0:37:09.920 --> 0:37:12.879
<v Speaker 2>like ninety degrees on the pavement and I ran it

0:37:12.960 --> 0:37:16.920
<v Speaker 2>in like five thirty or something like that, five hours

0:37:16.920 --> 0:37:19.120
<v Speaker 2>and thirty minutes. Hidi. I ran it together and it

0:37:19.200 --> 0:37:21.759
<v Speaker 2>was just an ordeal. I was like, I'll never run

0:37:21.800 --> 0:37:24.880
<v Speaker 2>it again. So I just headed up the team in

0:37:24.880 --> 0:37:29.520
<v Speaker 2>twenty thirteen and the bombs went off and the incredible

0:37:29.560 --> 0:37:32.480
<v Speaker 2>sense of you know, community that was there and my

0:37:32.600 --> 0:37:34.680
<v Speaker 2>runners and it was like, boom, I'm going to run

0:37:34.719 --> 0:37:37.000
<v Speaker 2>it with you again. And so I ran it again

0:37:37.040 --> 0:37:41.600
<v Speaker 2>in twenty fourteen. That day was so memory by the way,

0:37:41.719 --> 0:37:44.120
<v Speaker 2>and with all of the you know, remembering what had

0:37:44.160 --> 0:37:46.960
<v Speaker 2>happened in the bombs and just the overall feeling of

0:37:47.040 --> 0:37:50.520
<v Speaker 2>community and philanthropy over the course of that race was

0:37:50.920 --> 0:37:54.719
<v Speaker 2>it was a special day. And then I started to

0:37:54.719 --> 0:37:56.960
<v Speaker 2>figure things out. I kept running, and then last year

0:37:56.960 --> 0:37:59.480
<v Speaker 2>I decided to run it again and I ended up

0:37:59.560 --> 0:38:03.000
<v Speaker 2>running like a four to twenty five. So I've taken

0:38:03.040 --> 0:38:06.839
<v Speaker 2>like an hour off the first time, and it just

0:38:07.200 --> 0:38:09.719
<v Speaker 2>I guess I just sort of turned into a runner now.

0:38:09.800 --> 0:38:11.840
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. I sort of enjoy it and my

0:38:11.960 --> 0:38:14.279
<v Speaker 2>runners are very inspirational and how can you not.

0:38:14.440 --> 0:38:16.160
<v Speaker 3>So I got a great picture of him running the

0:38:16.160 --> 0:38:17.359
<v Speaker 3>Falmath foradvice last yeh.

0:38:17.400 --> 0:38:20.000
<v Speaker 2>Ran flm if you were there, I'll run that again

0:38:20.040 --> 0:38:22.560
<v Speaker 2>this year, run ten miles the other day. I'm not

0:38:22.640 --> 0:38:25.600
<v Speaker 2>running the marathon this year. Man, that's just hard to

0:38:25.640 --> 0:38:28.960
<v Speaker 2>take on every year. But an exciting news for Teddy's team.

0:38:28.960 --> 0:38:31.920
<v Speaker 2>We just got into the New York City Marathon. And

0:38:32.000 --> 0:38:35.520
<v Speaker 2>my foundation just continues to do things for stroking heart disease,

0:38:36.600 --> 0:38:38.759
<v Speaker 2>something I'm very proud of. We also have something called

0:38:38.800 --> 0:38:41.880
<v Speaker 2>the Comeback Assistance Program we started up where you know,

0:38:42.000 --> 0:38:43.920
<v Speaker 2>we seek out people who are on their way for

0:38:43.960 --> 0:38:47.560
<v Speaker 2>their their form of their comeback after their stroke and

0:38:48.440 --> 0:38:50.839
<v Speaker 2>we try to assist them to achieve it. So very

0:38:50.840 --> 0:38:51.239
<v Speaker 2>good things.

0:38:51.360 --> 0:38:54.000
<v Speaker 1>The public sees you on television on ESPN, and they

0:38:54.080 --> 0:38:56.520
<v Speaker 1>might not see all this other stuff that you're doing

0:38:56.560 --> 0:38:59.920
<v Speaker 1>for stroke awareness and things like that. That must give

0:38:59.920 --> 0:39:03.200
<v Speaker 1>you a real purpose in life where sure, it's great

0:39:03.239 --> 0:39:05.000
<v Speaker 1>to go down to Bristol and do the show, and

0:39:05.040 --> 0:39:08.400
<v Speaker 1>it's a very public, forward facing thing. But the reward

0:39:08.440 --> 0:39:11.040
<v Speaker 1>that you get out of this other that must make

0:39:11.080 --> 0:39:11.919
<v Speaker 1>you feel good at nice.

0:39:12.000 --> 0:39:16.759
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's just I have the advantage of hearing from

0:39:16.840 --> 0:39:19.080
<v Speaker 2>a lot of people when they see me out or

0:39:19.120 --> 0:39:21.440
<v Speaker 2>through social media or whatever it may be, but that

0:39:21.520 --> 0:39:23.960
<v Speaker 2>my runners don't, and that I've had a lot of

0:39:23.960 --> 0:39:27.919
<v Speaker 2>people come up and say that I recognize my dad

0:39:28.040 --> 0:39:30.840
<v Speaker 2>was having a stroke because of your awareness campaigns and

0:39:30.880 --> 0:39:33.719
<v Speaker 2>you're teaching people about this warning signs of stroke and

0:39:33.800 --> 0:39:36.600
<v Speaker 2>I got him to the hospital and it saved his life.

0:39:36.680 --> 0:39:40.279
<v Speaker 2>And those multiple examples that I keep getting just give

0:39:40.360 --> 0:39:44.480
<v Speaker 2>me inspiration to keep doing it. And I just remember

0:39:44.760 --> 0:39:46.719
<v Speaker 2>how I was when I was having my stroke and

0:39:46.760 --> 0:39:48.799
<v Speaker 2>I just didn't know I was having a stroke. So

0:39:49.760 --> 0:39:52.160
<v Speaker 2>it's just like boom light went off. This is how

0:39:52.200 --> 0:39:55.200
<v Speaker 2>I can help people. And so sometimes you hit over

0:39:55.239 --> 0:39:57.239
<v Speaker 2>the head with something you know that you need to

0:39:57.239 --> 0:39:59.359
<v Speaker 2>make a difference with in the world. And this has

0:39:59.400 --> 0:40:02.120
<v Speaker 2>been it for me, And I mean, this is something

0:40:02.120 --> 0:40:03.520
<v Speaker 2>that I'll be doing for a while.

0:40:04.520 --> 0:40:07.600
<v Speaker 1>We got him from the State of California via the

0:40:07.680 --> 0:40:11.440
<v Speaker 1>University of Arizona and now he is a true New

0:40:11.440 --> 0:40:15.600
<v Speaker 1>Englander with a red jacket and all right, right, teddy.

0:40:15.640 --> 0:40:17.160
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for taking the time to spend some time with

0:40:17.239 --> 0:40:17.560
<v Speaker 1>us today.

0:40:18.840 --> 0:40:21.560
<v Speaker 2>Appreciate Thank you so much, my pleasure. Thank you for

0:40:21.600 --> 0:40:22.880
<v Speaker 2>downloading this podcast.

0:40:23.080 --> 0:40:26.400
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0:40:26.760 --> 0:40:29.960
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0:40:29.960 --> 0:40:32.680
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