He was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft, and played his entire professional career with them.

[1] His paternal grandparents were from Bedonia in Italy (specifically, the frazione of Bruschi di Sopra),[2] while his mother is of Filipino ancestry.

In 1992, he played strongside outside linebacker prior to his transition to the defensive line in 1993 and started just one of 12 games and still managed to post 4.5 sacks for the season.

[4] Prior to the NFL Draft, Bruschi was invited to play in the East West Shrine Bowl Game.

[6] Coming into the draft he was listed at 6'0 250 pounds and was considered too small to be a defensive end but was a good size to be a linebacker, which is the position that the New England coaches moved him to.

In 1997, he saw action in every game for the second consecutive season and posted 30 defensive tackles, including four sacks, and added 13 special teams stops.

On February 15, 2005, at age 31 and just two days after playing in the 2005 Pro Bowl, Bruschi woke up with symptoms including left sided numbness, weakness, and vision problems.

He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he diagnosed with an ischemic stroke, caused by a blocked artery in the brain.

[11] On October 16, 2005, the Patriots announced that Bruschi had been medically cleared to resume playing football; he rejoined the team on the practice field three days later.

The Patriots officially activated him on October 29, and he played the following night against the Buffalo Bills; ESPN's broadcast of the game had several features and interviews on Bruschi's return.

Bruschi was named the 2005 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, an honor he shared with Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith.

In 2007, he played in and started all 16 regular-season games for the fourth time in his career and was voted a defensive captain for the 2007 season.

On the August 30, 2009 broadcast of Sunday Night Football, Al Michaels reported that Bruschi would announce his retirement after 13 seasons in the NFL.

Bruschi confirmed his retirement on August 31, 2009, at a press conference alongside New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.

It was worn by six-time Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters in 2011 and by Dont'a Hightower the following season.

The New England Patriots held a special ceremony in Bruschi's honor during halftime on Monday Night Football on December 6, 2010.

In his memoir, Bruschi speaks with candor about how his family confronted the reality of his life-threatening affliction, of his initial plans to retire from the NFL, and of the moment he told his wife he was ready to return to football, earning him a share of the Comeback Player of the Year Award and the Patriots recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.

In 2005, he was the Associated Press NFL Co-Comeback Player of the Year and was voted the Ed Block Courage Award, the Maxwell Football Club's Spirit Award and the AFC Defensive Player of the Week (Week 8) and NFL.com's All-Interview Team as well as USA Today's All-Joe Team.

In 2004, he made the AFC Pro Bowl and Second-Team Associated Press All-Pro and was on NFL.com's All-Interview Team.