Patriots welcome Santos and Bruschi into HOF

 Yesterday was a huge day for the New England Patriots, as they welcomed Gill Santos and Tedy Bruschi into the HOF as the twentieth and twenty-first members of the hall respectively. The event was watched by over 20,500 season ticket holders, former hall of fame inductees, Bruschi fans, and members of Patriots staff.

The event started at 5:00PM with introductions of former Patriots Hall of famers, and former Patriots players ranging from the 1960's to 2011. In total, more then 200 years of football history were in attendance for the event. Names include Joe Andruzzi, Troy Brown, Len St. Jenn, Vernon Crawford, Max Lane and Scott Zolak. Every time a name was announced, CBS Scene became a scene of deafening noise as 20,000 people erupted into a roar that, as John Rooke put it, "they should hear it in Miami and they should certainly hear it in New York!"


The three Superbowl trophies that were won during the Bruschi era were brought into the ceremony by a U.S Marine, Naval Seaman, and a U.S Air Force soldier, and CBS Scene could not have been more deafening during that time.

As the ceremony began, Jonathan Kraft came on stage first to introduce Gill Santos, who was to be the first member of the year introduced into the HOF. Kraft mentioned how he would wake up every morning at 6:45 just to listen to Santos, and it was always good considering there was no FCC regulation at that time. He stated that Santos called 745 games, and missed only one in his impressive 36 year career. Before bringing him up to get his jacket, he ended with this quote..

He is the man who will Forever be the voice of the New England Patriots, Mr. Gill Santos



Gill came on stage and valiantly accepted the red HOF jacket, and began his speech. He talked about how it has been an honor and a privilege to call Patriots games, and it was a great and memorable ride. The funniest part of the speech was when he talked about how he only learned english in the first grade..



I never learned to speak english until the first grade, considering that my family was from Portugal, we always spoke Portuguese in the house. So it is kind of ironic and funny that I am going into the Patriots
Hall of Fame for doing just that, speaking english

He ended with this one quote, which moved the whole crowd...

I was once asked if I could describe my life in six words, and I said yes I can.. I looked right at him and said "I am a very lucky man!"



After Gill's speech, the Patriots moved on to their first panel discussion involving Santos, along with other HOF members and Scott Zolak from 98.5 the sports hub. The twenty minute panel covered topics ranging from calls in the game, to daily routines when working with the Patriots. As Santos reminisced about his time broadcasting, he remembered the first Superbowl that the Pats won, with the kick from Adam Vinatieri.

I remember watching the kick go up. I said "Kick is up and kick is good"... and then I just absolutely lost it!

After the panel, it was time for Bruschi. Bob Kraft welcomed Bruschi to the stage with a moving speech about how he was the "Ideal Patriot". He was someone you wanted to look up to according to Kraft, and he thrived off of the fans and teammates. He was the ideal patriot because he always brought that energy that everyone wanted, and helped every rookie. Bruschi, just like Santos, accepted the red jacket admirably in front of the home crowd.

During his speech, Bruschi mentioned that he never wanted to be that guy who wanted to cause his team to lose, and he always wanted to play. He started with his young life when he said how the first guy he ever tackled was his father. "I ran after him and wrapped around his ankles. He fell like a Christmas tree". From that point on he said I was going to be a linebacker. He said "Tedy, you're going to be a linebacker, you have to, you're good at it". Of course, I didn't want to at all, but he did, and sure enough...

I remember watching ESPN and seeing my name go across the bottom as the 86th pick to the New England Patriots. I sat there and said "Guys, I think I just got drafted". We sat there and watched as the number scrolled through the bottom going from one to eighty-six, but it never got there. The phone rang and it was coach Parcells on the other side saying "Tedy, you're going to play Linebacker"

Bruschi continued to talk about how his career progressed, learning what the "hook" was and where it was, and how he started learning early under Parcells. He talked of the little things as well.



Bruschi did feel conflicted, saying that it felt weird that he was the only player going in this year, but he would eagerly await the induction of his next teammate in the HOF. Even Brady and Wilfork chimed in before practice with their quotes..



More from Training camp in the next article..

- Joshua Powers
@jmano33

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