Patriots
“How we finish our careers is so important.”
Tedy Bruschi during his Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2019. Jim Davis/Globe Staff
In the conversation around the potential future of Tua Tagovailoa following his latest concussion, one former Patriot has a unique perspective on what the Dolphins’ quarterback is currently going through.Tedy Bruschi, who returned to the NFL after suffering a stroke in 2005, offered his view on Tagovailoa’s situation during a segment on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown.“A lot of people had a lot of opinions in terms of whether you come back to play in a sport where you bang heads with 300-pound men after you’ve had a stroke,” Bruschi bluntly explained. “It’s the mental side of it that I had to go through that Tua’s going through.”Bruschi elaborated, noting that even with the best medical advice, the decision ultimately remains with Tagovailoa.“You see as many doctors as you possibly can,” Bruschi said. “He’s being supported within the organization, I understand that. But what doctors will give you is gray, and they will not give you black and white. I have personal experience from this.“I had a device put in my heart,” he continued. “If I get blindsided, will the device move at all? ‘It shouldn’t, chances are slim,’ but they give you all this information, but what they eventually say is, ‘It’s something you have to live with.’”In addition, there are larger life circumstances that have to be thought through.“Can your wife and family live with it? Which is a whole different dynamic that you could go through a whole different show about what it went to try to convince my wife to let me play football again,” Bruschi admitted.“So should he retire or should he play? I did both,” said the former Patriot, “because when I had my stroke I could not see in the left field of my eye. I was blind [to the left]. I could not see. I was done. I went into Bill Belichick’s office and told him I was finished. I left. But you get better, and I’m sure Tua’s going through these same thoughts also. Bruschi concluded that Tagovailoa will also undoubtedly consider his legacy as a football player.“The other thing you think about is this: I can’t go out like that,” he said. “I just can’t go out like that. I can’t finish like that, because for all of us, how we finish our careers is so important.”Ultimately, the retired linebacker said that he would support Tagovailoa if he wanted to return to the field.“You have your own ending up here in your mind. Tua still wants to win, and he still wants to have a career, and I would support him if he wanted to come back.”
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