An era of change: Farewell to 'the perfect player'

Tedy Bruschi's retirement is another reminder that time marches on, and that recapturing a championship dynamic is more difficult than amassing talent.

[Patgirl]

I wish Tedy and his family as many good times as Tedy has given New England. I hope the Patriots retire his number as I cannot imagine anyone else filling that jersey. We'll miss you Tedy - congratulations on your retirement.

[The Rooster]

It took a "Good Teddy" to get the "Bad Teddy" out of being the lead story on the news.

[Common sense]

Number 54 better well be retired. Not much to add from what has been said on various outlets the last 24+ hours.

We'll miss you Tedy, but you've made quite a few memories to last, from the strip of Rhodes against the Colts, to the video of you playing with your two boys before a SB, to recovering from a stroke and playing football again 8 months later, to this.

Simply perfect.

[Dick Butkus]

His number will not be retired. The NFL frowns on it. You're talking a 53-man roster on which the league assigns certain numbers to certain positions. There is that danger of running out of numbers. But I'm sure the Patriots will assign No. 54 to another player only as a last resort. Because Teddy, you were the best.

[Common sense]

Dick Butkus wrote:

His number will not be retired. The NFL frowns on it. You're talking a 53-man roster on which the league assigns certain numbers to certain positions. There is that danger of running out of numbers. But I'm sure the Patriots will assign No. 54 to another player only as a last resort. Because Teddy, you were the best.

They've actually changed the numbers to positions a few years back which is why you are seeing receivers with single digits and teens, LB's with numbers in the 90's, etc.

But in essance you are correct. However, our other long time Pat, Troy Brown's number was being worn by Alex Smith this pre season. Curious to see if that continues as no one should wear that number either. No one wears 56 or 57 since Tippett and Nelson...