Current And Former Patriots Gather At TPC Boston For a Good Cause

While the talk was predominantly about the NFL lockout on Monday at , the real reason that several current and former New England Patriot players traveled to Norton was for the third annual Joe Andruzzi and Friends Golf Tournament.

The tournament is held to raise money for cancer patients and their families. All proceeds from the event benefit the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, which provides financial assistance for patients and their families as well as help fund pediatric brain cancer research.

“We’re trying to raise as much money as we can to help as many families as we can,” said Andruzzi, prior to the start of the tournament on Monday. “We’ve really grown over the years. We’ve helped 45 families and have already raised $175,000 for brain cancer research. Now we want to help more. We want to help those families and take a little more of the burden off them by paying their mortgage or paying their rent or the electric bill. We want to do stuff like that, so they can focus on taking care of their loved ones.”

The past and present from the Patriots were well represented on Monday as current players Sebastian Vollmer, Jermaine Cunningham, Tully Banta-Cain, Rob Gronkowski, Rob Ninkovich, Logan Mankins and Dan Koppen as well as former players Harold Shaw, Matt Chatham, Christian Fauria, Pete Brock, Jim Bowman, Jermaine Wiggins and Jon Williams were all on hand to support a terrific cause.

Andruzzi was an offensive guard with the Patriots from 2000 to 2004 and earned three Super Bowl rings during the 2001, 2003 and 2004 campaigns. The Mansfield resident is currently an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the organization.

After leaving the Patriots, Andruzzi played in Cleveland during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. However, in the spring of 2007, his life took a challenging turn when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt’s lymphoma.

The Andruzzi family immediately returned to New England and he was treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, both of which are located in Boston. Andruzzi received his final treatment Aug. 6, 2007 and that was followed by a year of recovery at home. Since then he has been in remission.

“These guys know the player I was, the person I am now and what I went through a couple of years ago,” Andruzzi said. “They know what we are trying to do, myself, my wife and my foundation. They are out here today supporting us and helping us raise money to help families. They know what we are all about, wanting to help a lot of people.

We are growing and getting bigger every year. They are here to help support us today.”

The Joe Andruzzi Foundation started in 2008 by Joe and Jennifer Andruzzi to provide assistance to cancer patients and their families to make mortgage, rent and utility payments during financially difficult times and to fund pediatric brain cancer research.

“We want to be an advocate for patients and point out things that people may not think about,” said Jennifer Andruzzi. “It is very rewarding to be able to help people. And we are appreciative and grateful to everyone that helps support the Foundation.”

The Foundation is the Andruzzis’ second philanthropic effort. In 2003, the couple started the C.J. Buckley Cancer Research Fund at Children’s Hospital Boston in memory of C.J. Buckley, who was a young man with an inoperable brain tumor who had touched the hearts of the Andruzzis prior to his death in 2002.

Joe Andruzzi also regularly invites current players and former teammates to join him on hospital visits to personally support patients who are helped by the Foundation.

To help underwrite its work in the community, the Foundation hosts two major annual fundraising events. The Joe Andruzzi and Friends Golf Tournament is held each spring and the New England Celebrities Tackle Cancer Gala takes place in the fall.

Since 2008, these events have raised more than $1 million and have attracted such current Patriot players as Mankins, Koppen, Vollmer and Brandon Meriweather.

“I have known Joe for four or five years,” Mankins said. “He is doing a lot of great things for families in need. Anything that supports Joe I would do it. It is a no-brainer.”