Vince Wilfork wants to tackle diabetes

Pats defensive lineman Vince Wilfork got a little choked up yesterday talking about his “Tackling Diabetes’’ initiative, a fund-raising effort for the Joslin Diabetes Center’s High Hopes Fund and his own Vince Wilfork Foundation. (Fans can pledge $7.50 or $75 in honor of No. 75 for each tackle Big Vince makes during the regular season.) Wilfork’s father died of complications from diabetes in 2002, never seeing his son play for the Pats. “As a kid, I’m 9 or 10 years old at the time, seeing my father going through what he had to go through,’’ Wilfork said. “I had to give him shots at times, he was so weak. I had to bathe him, had to take him to the restroom. There was a lot going on that my brother and I had to deal with. That’s why this is really close and dear to my heart.’’