Bruschi Makes a Sober Move

The kid had guts. His high school football coach discovered that while taking attendance on the first day of class.

“Tedy BRUSH-ee,” the coach said.

“It’s Brewski,” the sophomore corrected him. “As in, have another.”

It was meant as a wisecrack, but it became a lifestyle. Bruschi, who years later would rise to NFL stardom as a middle linebacker for the New England Patriots, quietly battled an alcohol problem that nearly destroyed his marriage before he gave up drinking about six years ago.

He first told the story to the Boston Globe last month, and Wednesday addressed the issue again when asked about it during the Patriot media session at the team’s Super Bowl hotel.

“Everyone has struggles in their life,” said Bruschi, 31. “I’ve had them. I’m sure a lot of you had them. There comes a time when you’ve got to look at yourself and say, ‘Hey, it’s time to grow up.’ That’s the decision I made five, six years ago when I wanted to become the best father and husband I could possibly become. To do that, I made some tough decisions.”

It wasn’t one specific incident that led to his giving up drinking, no court-ordered mandate, but he began to see troubling trends in his personal life.

At the time, he and his wife Heidi, his college sweetheart, had a young son. Bruschi’s drinking was tearing the couple apart.

“I got to a point where I realized whenever there was a problem in my life, whether I was getting into trouble or having trouble in my marriage, alcohol was involved,” he told the Globe. “It was an accumulation of events. I was about 24 or 25 years old. Heidi and I were having one of our arguments, because I had taken it too far one more time.

“I looked at it and I said, ‘I’m tired of this.’ So I quit drinking.”

Now, that seems like a lifetime ago. The Bruschis appear to be happier, they have three young sons, and, by all accounts, Tedy has maintained his decision to stop drinking. He also has emerged as a leader on a team playing in its third Super Bowl in four seasons and the captain of a defense that in consecutive playoff games humbled the mighty Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers, making Peyton Manning look human and Ben Roethlisberger look like a rookie.

“Tedy is the focal point for us,” linebacker Mike Vrabel said. “He calls the signals and he makes a lot of huge plays. Every week it’s a pick, it’s a fumble. He’s going to do something. You just don’t know what play it’s going to be.”

People around the league have taken notice. Bruschi learned Tuesday night that he had been selected to the AFC Pro Bowl team, replacing injured Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis.

Three times this season, Bruschi was selected as the AFC’s defensive player of the week, including after the playoff victory over Indianapolis. He ranked second on the team with 128 tackles and tied for second with three interceptions. Also, two of the Patriots’ four defensive touchdowns resulted from his fumble recoveries.

His cell phone buzzed at dinner Tuesday and the voice on the other end told him the Pro Bowl news. Ecstatic, Bruschi hung up and called his wife right away.

“We wondered how we were going to get all three of our boys down there,” he said with a smile. “I came in here not knowing what I was doing. I developed myself into a player that can be recognized as one of the best in the league by going to the Pro Bowl and making All-Pro teams. It’s something that I am proud of. That was my goal at least the last few years.”

Of course, his strides off the field have been even greater. He seems to have lost the anger that bubbled in him for so long, the rough edge he developed growing up in a sketchy part of San Francisco, and later, after his parents divorced, when he lived in a working-class neighborhood in Roseville, outside of Sacramento.

“He had more [guts] than a typical high school kid,” said Larry Cunha, the Roseville coach who at first mispronounced Bruschi’s name. “We went back to last year’s AFC championship game and I noticed he’s definitely gone through a big maturation process. He’s settled, he’s focused, he’s happy where he is and he’s confident about what he’s doing.”

The walls of Cunha’s office are covered with pictures, mementos and jerseys from his days coaching Bruschi. The kids at Roseville still wander in and gaze at the team pictures from that era, trying to spot the kid who one day would have enough Super Bowl rings to wear at least one on each hand. They hear the stories too.

“He was awesome,” Cunha said. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and he’s the most instinctive, explosive, get-things-done-type kid I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach.”

Some might question how Bruschi could decide one day to give up drinking, then stick with his decision. His friends say that’s just the type of uncommon internal strength he has. His high school friend and teammate, Josh Tindall, told the Globe he never thought Bruschi had a serious drinking problem but “that’s typical Tedy. If something is getting in the way of his life, he’s going to trim the fat.”

Regardless of the reasons why, Bruschi stopped. And he feels he’s a better man for it.

“I’m comfortable with every decision I’ve ever made, right or wrong,” he said. “I think I’m at a place now where I’m secure enough that I can talk about things like that. I can look at you and tell you who I am.”