Three-time Super Bowl champion Tedy Bruschi suffered another stroke on Thursday and is currently recovering at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Massachusetts, according to a statement from his family.
Bruschi’s foundation, Tedy’s Team, released a statement on Twitter Friday morning saying that the former New England Patriots linebacker “had a stroke known as a TIA. He recognized his warning signs immediately: arm weakness, face drooping, and speech difficulties,” but is now “recovering well.”
Since retiring from the NFL in 2009 after 13 years, Bruschi, 46, has been an analyst at ESPN and is currently a member of their “Sunday NFL Countdown” on-air team.
“Tedy has the complete support of ESPN and we wish him a speedy recovery,” the network said in a statement to TheWrap on Friday.
Bruschi suffered his first stroke in February 2005 just three days after playing in Super Bowl XXXIX, in which the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Following several months of rehabilitation, he returned to the field on Oct. 29, 2005, and went on to be named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
“I had 366 tackles in the NFL as a stroke survivor,” he said upon his retirement, according to ESPN. “And I’m very proud of that.”
In 2007, he wrote “Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery, and My Return to the NFL,” a book about his experience with his stroke and his recovery.
Bruschi has since dedicated his personal life to advocating stroke research and awareness through his foundation, Tedy’s Team. He has run the Boston Marathon three times, including in 2019, to raise funds for American Stroke Association.
Tedy’s Team has issued the following statement on behalf of the Bruschi family. pic.twitter.com/CuwmHobvl3
— Tedy’s Team (@TedysTeam) July 5, 2019