Tedy Bruschi (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage.com)
A former Patriot, Tedy Bruschi knows all about the Jets-Pats rivalry. (Getty Images)
If Tedy Bruschi could have one wish granted for Monday night’s much-anticipated game between the Jets and the Patriots, it would be for snow — preferably, thick, white, ankle deep snow.
“That’s just me,” Bruschi said during a conference call yesterday. “That’s when I felt most comfortable in that stadium is when the snow came down. I just knew we were going to win when it snowed in Foxborough.”
The extended forecast is calling for temperatures in the mid-20s with wind, but no snow. That should be a relief to the Jets, considering the Patriots are 11-0 in snow games at Foxborough, the most recent being a 59-0 rout of the Titans in October 2009.
Bruschi, an NFL analyst for ESPN, will be honored Monday night at halftime for his 13-year career as a standout linebacker for the Patriots. He retired in 2009 after winning three Super Bowls in New England, resuming his career after suffering a stroke in 2005.
During his tenure, Bruschi played in a number of games like Monday night’s encounter between the Patriots and Jets, both 9-2. In fact, just about every game with the Jets had a big-game feel, Bruschi said, because the coaches wanted to win just as badly as the players.
“We’ve had a handful of rivalries there over the past decades or so — the Steelers, the Colts, [but] especially the Jets,” Bruschi said. “During Jet week, I really felt the rivalry coming in through the coaching staff, from Al Groh to Bill Belichick — I always felt coaches coaching with more urgency, a more aggressive demeanor, [stressing] what it meant to get a job done, execute special assignments. Coaches feel this one and the lead comes from them. There’s a lot of history back and forth and with that comes more of a wanting to beat the team. But the coaches really took the lead when I was there letting us know how hated the New York Jets were in that facility.”
The feeling hasn’t changed much, if at all, with the arrival of tough-talking Rex Ryan, who has beaten Belichick and the Patriots in two of their three meetings during his tenure as the Jets head coach. But the biggest factor in Monday’s game, Bruschi said, could be Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez.
“This year has been a benchmark year for him in terms of development and leadership,” Bruschi said. “The comments I made earlier in the year was that I thought he was a front-runner and when things went bad I think he tanked it a little bit. I think I was wrong in my assessment of Mark Sanchez because ever since then I’ve watched him closely. I wanted to see if he improved in leadership within that team. I felt early on in the year, the Jets would have success running the ball and playing good defens. … But I think they’ve shown they have another aspect of their team and that’s leadership from the quarterback position. Mark has really proven me wrong in my assessment.”
Bruschi calls the Jets and Pats two of the top three teams in the NFL.
“I still look at these two teams as two teams that will be there in the end,” he said. “But we always talked about playing division games that when you had an opportunity to put a team behind you, take advantage of it.
“I think that’s the opportunity the Jets have right now [with] another victory over the Patriots. You’d be putting a team behind you and establishing a clear position in the driver’s seat in the division.”
george.willis@nypost.com