Bruschi had missed a long stretch of training camp practices with an undisclosed injury and when he returned he was running with the second unit behind second-year players Jerod Mayo and Gary Guyton. That was the first indication his roster spot wasn’t a sure thing. Backup linebackers usually must contribute on special teams and Bruschi’s impact in that area is limited.
One of the sources said Bruschi’s decision might have been prompted by his performance in Friday night’s exhibition game against the Redskins, when he was one of the defenders involved in a 73-yard gain by Washington tight end Chris Cooley.
Bruschi was the longest-tenured Patriot on this year’s roster, having joined the team as a third-round draft choice out of Arizona in 1996. He was entering the last year of his contract in 2009 and was scheduled to earn $1.9 million.
Bruschi recently had talked about options for his career after football, which could include motivational speaking, coaching, or something else. Bruschi, who authored the book “Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery, and My Return to the NFL’’, toured the country this offseason as a speaker.
Helping build the Patriots into one of the NFL’s marquee franchises was something Bruschi took great pride in, and one of the lasting images of Bruschi came after the Patriots’ third Super Bowl championship when he held three fin gers in the air and held up a newspaper that read “Dynasty.’’ Television cameras also captured him playing on the field before the Super Bowl with his kids, an endearing image that followed him in ensuing years as he returned from his stroke.
A seven-time defensive captain, Bruschi had opportunities to leave the Patriots in free agency, but he once said he couldn’t envision himself in another uniform. At one point, he negotiated his own contract with the team, taking less than he could have earned elsewhere.
