After announcing his retirement from football today, New England Patriots Linebacker Tedy Bruschi was paid a pretty ultimate compliment by his coach Bill Belichick, who called him “the perfect player.” Given the polarizing Coach Belichick’s low status in the sports landscape for saccharine appreciation, it probably won’t stick.

Hopefully, what will be remembered, by Pats fan or otherwise, is Bruschi’s unlikely and lightning fast recovery from a stroke in February ’05 just three days after winning his third Super Bowl with New England that saw him back on the playing field by mid-October of the same year.

Tedy Bruschi, Half man, Half God, Half [possible] Centaur was born days, possibly half an hour, after that first game back against the Bills in ’05.

Now, these guys don’t like the Patriots, and they’re probably editing screengrabs of today’s retirement press conference, with heartfelt embraces between Bruschi and and Belichick, to Let Me Go by Heaven 17 for their next video installment on their YouTube channel – Belichick’s Camera Crew. However, since Bruschi recovered (he obviously did not “stroke out”) and went on to lead the team in tackles in 2006 and 2007, and will probably be appointed the new senior senator of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…we can laugh about this, right?

Thanks for 13 hard-nosed years, Tedy.