Patriots Bruschi retires after 13 seasons

New England Patriots Tedy Bruschi celebrates after the Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers in the NFL's AFC championship football game in Foxborough, Massachusetts January 20, 2008.

BOSTON (Reuters) - New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi retired on Monday ending a 13-year career that included three Super Bowl titles.

Bruschi, 36, who was taken in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft by the Patriots, spent his entire career in New England playing in five Super Bowls.

"I've had the privilege of coaching a lot of great players and a lot of great leaders in the National Football League, and I'll just put Tedy up there with all of them," Patriots coach Bill Belichick told the Boston Herald. "Above all of them.

"There is no player that epitomizes more of what I believe a player should be, on the field and off the field, in every situation."

Bruschi's career had appeared over in 2005 when he suffered a stroke but he returned nearly nine months later after missing the first six games of the season.

The inside linebacker battled back to become the defensive leader of the 2007 Patriots, who became the first NFL team to complete the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record.

(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by John Mehaffey)