Tedy Bruschi with a sack dance in 1994. Photo by Stephen Dunn, Getty Images Sport
Former Arizona All-American defensive end Tedy Bruschi completed his first marathon today, finishing the Boston Marathon in 5 hours, 26 minutes and 2 seconds.
Bruschi ran with his wife, Heidi, a former volleyball and softball player for the Wildcats. She finished the marathon one second ahead of her husband.
The energetic sack-master of Arizona’s Desert Swarm defenses, Bruschi remains one of the most popular players in school history. He is much loved in New England for his 13 seasons as a standout linebacker with the Patriots, including his return to the team following a stroke in 2005.
Bruschi, 38, hasn’t slowed down at all. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro a year ago as part of an NFL group seeking to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. He wrote about his experience at ESPNBoston.com.
And now, the marathon.
He recently spoke to ESPN.com about his motivation:
After my stroke in 2005, I started an organization called Tedy’s Team in partnership with the American Stroke Association. Our runners who run the Boston Marathon and the Falmouth (Mass.) Road Race would ask me when I was going to run but I was always playing football. My automatic response was ‘I only train for eight-second bursts’ and a marathon was just something I couldn’t even fathom accomplishing. Then I retired and they kept asking when I would do it. Climbing Kilimanjaro last year made me think about things that I could accomplish physically even though I was no longer in the NFL. After I got off that mountain, I told my runners I would attempt to run the Boston Marathon.
Bruschi can be seen as an NFL analyst on ESPN.