Tedy Bruschi and Gil Santos inducted into Patriots Hall of Fame

Tedy Bruschi and Gil Santos inducted into Patriots Hall of Fame

July 30th, 2013

Morgan Smith

Posted in Features, Main, News, Opinions

Tedy Bruschi giving his speech
Photo by New England Patriots

Former Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame along with longtime Patriots broadcaster Gil Santos tonight at Gillette Stadium before the Patriots night practice.

Tedy Bruschi and Gil Santos
Photo by Keith Nordstrom

Bruschi gave an emotional speech about where his mental toughness came from.

I learned all of my mental toughness from my mother,” Bruschi said. “My mother could look Bill Belichick in the eye, and he would crumble.”

He also talked about playing after he had a stroke. “I’m not a stat guy, but I remember one number: 366. That’s the number of tackles I made as a stroke survivor, and I’m proud of that.”

Kraft introduced Bruschi onto the stage and recalled the first time he saw Bruschi. ”What I didn’t know was that he would become one of the most iconic players in franchise history.”

Tedy Bruschi also mentioned Santos in his speech. ”It’s an absolute honor to go in with the man who called every play of my career,” Bruschi said.

Santos recalled his favorite games he had broadcast, in order, were Super Bowl XXXVI, the Snow Bowl, Super Bowl XXXVIII, Super Bowl XXXIX and, tied for fifth, all of the rest.

He recalled former Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri’s game winning kick against the Rams. ”It was good,” Santos said. ”And then I went out of my mind.”

Santos also talked about his love of being in the booth. “Let me assure you it was never a job. It was an honor. It was a privilege,” Santos said. “I’d have done it for free. I never told my bosses that.”

Belichick also talked about Bruschi and mainly focused on how Bruschi ”always did the right thing.”