Tedy Bruschi holds clinic at Gillette Stadium

Fan favorite and former New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi hosted 54 children today at Gillette Stadium for his fifth annual youth football clinic, reported Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.

Five current and former New England players joined No. 54 as coaches for the kids: linebacker Jerod Mayo, quarterback Brian Hoyer and punter Zoltan Mesko, along with former running back Sammy Morris and Ray Ventrone, who currently plays defensive back for the Cleveland Browns.

"Bruschi gave the kids a pep talk in the locker room before leading them onto the field. They were introduced individually over the public address system and ran under the Patriots’ inflatable helmet," reported Howe.

“I was just talking to Hoyer, I was telling him, ‘How do you think these kids feel behind us, on the Gillette Stadium field listening to the national anthem where the New England Patriots play?’" Bruschi said. “It’s just great for them. It’s a great treat for the kids, sort of an end-of-the-school-year treat, too. School is over. Summer has started. They get to come on their favorite football team’s field, and they earned it writing an essay on their game plan for success on the field, off the field, in the classroom. It’s great, so that’s why I love doing this.”

Bruschi couldn't help but reminisce before taking the field.

“When you walk onto this field and it’s lined, and you see the end zones and the numbers, you feel it,” he said.“You still feel it, like the way you felt walking onto it for game day, just for those first couple steps. Whenever you walked onto it, you always had a mind shift. Mine shifts, but then I shift it back off really quickly because it’s just not that time for me anymore.”

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