Patriots lose their defensive heart

America At Large: For all his other gifts, Tedy Bruschi's principal asset as a football player has always been his heart. That his career would end because of it represents the cruelest of ironies.

Last month, the morning after Bruschi was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital after suffering a stroke, Boston hospitals were swamped with visits from men in the 20-49 age group, all of whom voiced complaints about "non-trauma related headaches, blurred vision and one-sided weakness" - the same symptoms that had brought the ambulance running for the popular Patriots linebacker.

Despite the 80 per cent jump in admissions for suspected strokes that day, public health officials noted there had been no increase in actual strokes.

Bruschi is 31 years old and generally acknowledged to have been the heart and soul of a defence that helped the Patriots to win three Super Bowl championships over the last four years.

Bright and engaging, he is one of those rare football players who managed simultaneously to endear himself to team-mates, fans and the media. The former elected him a team captain, while literally thousands of replicas of his number 54 jersey were visible around Gillette Stadium at Patriots home games. And we on this side of the business had come to rely on him as our go-to guy: a communications major at Arizona, Bruschi was perpetually cheerful, understood our needs and was eminently quotable on almost any subject.

A defensive lineman in Arizona, Bruschi had broken the NCAA record for quarterback sacks as a collegian, and was drafted in the third round by the Patriots in 1996, even though they hadn't quite sorted out how they planned to use him.

Despite his obvious pass-rushing skills, Bruschi was, at barely 6ft and 225lb, far too small for an NFL defensive lineman.

"He was obviously a good football player, but we had no idea what to do with him," admitted Pats coach Bill Belichick, then a New England assistant.

"When I came in, I wasn't a linebacker right away, and I wasn't a defensive end right away, so they threw me in on third down and threw me in on special teams to see what I could do," he once recalled of his early NFL apprenticeship.

Converting Bruschi to linebacker involved a complete overhaul. Until he was first asked to do it in practice, for instance, he'd never defended a pass in his life.

Making up for his inexperience with enthusiasm and athleticism, Bruschi eventually developed into the cornerstone of the New England defence, which was tailored to take advantage of his particular gifts. In four of the past five seasons he registered over 100 tackles, including 122 in the year just concluded.

Over a span in the 2002-2003 season he intercepted four passes and returned each of them for touchdowns - and posted another interception off Donovan McNabb in Super Bowl XXXIX last month.

Recognition by his peers around the league seemed to come slower. Although opponents universally respected him, he continued to be out-polled by Baltimore's Ray Lewis and Miami's Zach Thomas when it came time to vote for the Pro Bowl, but when the matter came up, Bruschi always replied: "I honestly don't care about individual honors. I'm playing to win championships."

This season he got both. A week after leading the Patriots to victory over the Eagles in the Super Bowl, he was in Honolulu playing for the AFC in his first Pro Bowl. Ironically, it turned out to be the last football game he would play.

Three days later, on February 16th, he was back home in North Attleboro when the stroke occurred. He was rushed by ambulance to Mass General, where he was treated and released three days later. Although he didn't stop to speak to reporters that day, Bruschi appeared wobbly as he walked to a waiting car with his wife, Heidi.

The consensus of medical experts at the time was that Bruschi should be able to resume a "healthy, active" life. Whether that included playing football was never specified, leading some fans and team-mates to adopt that unrealistically optimistic view.

In the month that has passed since, several fellow Patriots had voiced hope that he might experience a complete cure and return to play, although a body of medical evidence weighed heavily against the possibility even before the latest ominous development.

Yesterday Bruschi was back in the hospital. An Arizona television station, citing sources close to the family, reported he had returned to Mass General to repair a hole which had been discovered in his heart.

"I can't confirm it," said Patriots spokesman Stacy James, who perhaps more tellingly did not deny the report. "At the request of the Bruschi family, I am respecting their privacy and offering my assistance. I can't be more specific until they give me more information to pass along."

That would appear to be newspeak for "you can count on it".

Over the last few weeks the defending champions have already been hard-hit by the salary cap-inspired departures of cornerback Ty Law, guard Joe Andruzzi and veteran receiver Troy Brown, and the loss of Bruschi will be even more devastating.

But the Bruschis have three young sons, the oldest of whom is just four years of age, and they're going to need their father a lot more than their father needs football. It's always sad to see an athlete cut down in his prime, but at least Tedy Bruschi can walk away a winner. They can't all say that.